FKUI PROFESSOR, PROF. DR. WAWAIMULI AROZAL: PHARMACOLOGY AS AN IMPORTANT FOUNDATION IN TREATING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES IN INDONESIA
Wawaimuli Arozal, in her inaugural speech entitled “Farmakologi Dasar dalam Pendidikan dan Penelitian Kedokteran: Peran dan Tantangannya dalam Mengatasi Penyakit Kardiovaskular di Indonesia“, highlighted the importance of Pharmacology, especially Basic Pharmacology, in research related to drugs in the cardiovascular field. In the speech held on Saturday (18/3), at Imeri Hall, UI Salemba Campus, Wawaimuli said that without good knowledge in pharmacology, a doctor can become a cause of disaster for patients because there is no drug that is completely safe.
Based on the Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) in 2018, a total of 1,017,290 Indonesians were diagnosed with heart disease. The number of patients suffering from the cardiovascular disease continues to increase every year. For example, hypertensive patients, who are known to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, increased from 25.8% in 2013 to 34.1% in 2018. In the long term, hypertension will cause end organ damage and increase mortality, morbidity, and high health care costs.
Wawaimuli assessed the need for fast scientific developments in the field of medicine in overcoming cardiovascular disease, for the context of its diagnosis, prevention, and comprehensive management. Pharmacological therapy (drug therapy) in cardiovascular disease generally becomes the first line and then emerges as a combination of various other therapeutic modalities. Patients who have undergone definitive therapy, whether percutaneous or cardiac and vascular surgery, often have to take appropriate medication for a certain period of time or even for life.
Pharmacotherapy, which is related to the use of drugs in the clinic, has now developed into a Clinical Pharmacology discipline that studies in depth the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of drugs. Pharmacokinetics relates to what drugs experience in living organisms, such as absorption, distribution, biotransformation, and excretion. Meanwhile, pharmacodynamics deals with the effect of drugs on living cells, organs, or creatures as a whole. Drug pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are studied in animals before being studied in humans, which is called clinical trials.
A newly discovered compound (isolated or synthesized), including herbal ingredients, is first tested by a series of pharmacological tests on separate organs, cells, or laboratory animals. If a pharmacological activity that may be useful is found, the compound that passes the screening will be further investigated. Before this new drug candidate is tested on humans, it takes time to study its pharmacodynamic properties, pharmacokinetics, and toxic effects in laboratory animals. This pharmacokinetic study also includes the development of analytical techniques to measure the levels of compounds and their metabolites in biologic fluids to minimize the risk of research when carried out on humans.
Several studies have been conducted using laboratory animals for indications of cardiovascular disease. First, Carvedilol and Telmisartan (drugs for indications of hypertension) can function in preventing cardiotoxicity in mice treated with anthracyclines (an anti-cancer) by reducing various toxicity parameters in the heart, thereby preventing the incidence of heart failure due to chemotherapy which often occurs in cancer patients.
Second, silver compounds formulated in the form of nanoparticles can improve various parameters of inflammation that occur in the infarcted rat heart. Third, mangiferin, a compound that is abundant in mango plants, has been shown to prevent inflammation and apoptosis of heart cells by reducing the expression of pro-apoptotic and pro-inflammatory genes in the inflamed rat hearts and improving heart muscle strength.
Wawaimuli said that the results obtained certainly needed further tests, including the safety of long-term use in animals. If the results of tests on laboratory animals are consistent regarding the effect of therapy for certain indications and are proven safe, further tests will be carried out on humans.
Thanks to these findings, Prof. dr. Wawaimuli Arozal, M.Biomed, Pharm.D was inaugurated as a Professor in the Field of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia (FKUI). The procession led by Rector of UI Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., was also attended by the Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (RI), Dr. dr. apt. Lucia Rizka Andalucia, M.Pharm, MARS; Director of Mochtar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology (MRIN), Prof. dr. Irawan Yusuf, Ph.D.; Deputy 1 for Supervision of Drugs, Narcotics, Psychotropics, Precursors and Addictive Substances, BPOM, Dra. Togi Junice Hutadjulu, Apt, MHA; and Director of Drug Registration, BPOM, apt. Desi Eka Putri, S.Si, M.Farm.
Prof. dr. Wawaimuli completed her undergraduate studies in Medical Education (1993) and Master’s program in Biomedical Sciences (2001) at UI. Her doctoral degree was obtained after completing her studies in Pharmacy, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences, Niigata, Japan (2011). Currently, she is a lecturer at the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutic FKUI, as well as Head of the Study Program for the Master’s Program in Biomedical Sciences FKUI.
Several of her published works include the Effects of Doxycycline on the Hypertensive Doca-Salt Rat Model with Diastolic Heart Failure (2022); Neuroprotective Effects of Moringa Oleifera on Cognitive Dysfunction Due to Chronic Stress, Review on Antioxidant Activity, Neuroplasticity and Inflammation (2022); and Effects of Centella Asiatica Herbal Water Extract on Macrophage Inflammatory Cells and the Progressiveness of the Occurrence of Insulin Resistance in Obesity Ex Vivo and In Vivo (2022).
Author: Sasa
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