Priyanga Ranasinghe

University of Colombo · Department of Pharmacology

Background When conducting reviews, obtaining unreported information by contacting corresponding authors via traditional methods of correspondence, such as email/postage has become increasingly challenging. Objective/s The current study aimed to identify the different non-traditional sources and approaches to obtain unreported data from respective...

Introduction: Availability of essential medicines that meet the expected quality standards, in appropriate dosage forms at affordable prices is a fundamental prerequisite to fulfill healthcare needs of given a population. This study assessed available products, prices and affordability of essential medicines (EM) in community pharmacies in Sri Lank...

Aims: To describe the diversity of pharmacogenomic variants affecting warfarin metabolism in Sri Lankans. Materials & methods: Genotype data were filtered out from an anonymized database of 400 Sri Lankans, and minor allele frequencies (MAF) were calculated. Variants of CYP2C9, VKORC1 and CYP4F2 genes were studied. Results: Overall, CYP2C9*2 and CY...

Post-transcriptional gene silencing targets and degrades mRNA transcripts, silencing the expression of specific genes. RNA interference using synthetic structurally well-defined short dsRNA (small interfering RNA [siRNA]), is a technology that has advanced rapidly in recent years. This introductory review describes utility of siRNA, by exploring th...

Background: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods:...

Background: Current evidence regarding the association between overweight and obesity and in-hospital morbidity and mortality is inconsistent and South Asian populations are underrepresented. Methods: Data relevant to anthropometry, hospital outcomes, complications, and medical diagnoses of all acute medical admissions to the National Hospital o...

Background: The global burden of lower respiratory infections (LRIs) and corresponding risk factors in children older than 5 years and adults has not been studied as comprehensively as it has been in children younger than 5 years. We assessed the burden and trends of LRIs and risk factors across all age groups by sex, for 204 countries and territor...

Background The health risks associated with moderate alcohol consumption continue to be debated. Small amounts of alcohol might lower the risk of some health outcomes but increase the risk of others, suggesting that the overall risk depends, in part, on background disease rates, which vary by region, age, sex, and year. Methods For this analysis,...

Supplementary data

Objectives To describe the availability of medicines and World Health Organization (WHO)/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs (INRUD) core drug use indicators in a nationally representative sample of outpatient department (OPD) pharmacies in government hospitals of Sri Lanka. Methods This descriptive-cross-sectional national survey was c...

Background: Combating viral hepatitis is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and WHO has put forth hepatitis B elimination targets in its Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis (WHO-GHSS) and Interim Guidance for Country Validation of Viral Hepatitis Elimination (WHO Interim Guidance). We estimated the global, regional, a...

Objectives To assess the content and frequency of ayurvedic and herbal product advertisements in electronic and print media in Sri Lanka. Methods Advertisements on ayurvedic and herbal products that did not contain any known allopathic medicine/substance with a label that claimed to have curative/preventive health benefits/indications were include...

Aims The burden and health costs of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus continue to increase globally and prevention strategies in at-risk people need to be explored. Previous work, in both animal models and humans, supports the role of zinc in improving glucose homeostasis. We, therefore, aimed to test the effectiveness of zinc supplementation on glycaemic c...

Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is a group of visual symptoms experienced in relation to the use of computers. Nearly 60 million people suffer from CVS globally, ranging from 64% to 90%, resulting in reduced productivity at work and reduced quality of life of the computer worker. The present study aims to describe the prevalence of CVS and its assoc...

Importance: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. Objective: To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic...

Background Bibliometrics methods are commonly used to analyse and compare scientific performance. At present there are no bibliometric analyses on insulin resistance (IR) publications. In this study, we analysed highly-cited IR publications. Methods The analysis presented is based on Web of Science (WoS): Science Citation Index Expanded. Total cit...

Obesity has reached pandemic proportions and is a growing concern throughout the world. A parallel trend has also been observed among women in reproductive age, leading to the increasing global prevalence of gestational obesity (GO). The well-known obesity-related health problems also extend to pregnancy, where they are responsible for giving rise...

Background: Given the projected trends in population ageing and population growth, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase. In addition, strong evidence has emerged supporting the importance of potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. Characterising the distribution and magnitude of anticipated growth is crucial for publ...

Introduction: Bibliometric analyses of research in Sri Lanka, a lower-middle income island nation in South Asia, has focused mainly on medical research, concluding that there is a need for increased research productivity and impact, and for local solutions to health concerns. There has been no general bibliometric analysis across scientific discipl...

Background Although it is reported in numerous interventional and observational studies, that a low-fat diet is an effective method to combat overweight and obesity, the relationship at the global population level is not well established. This study aimed to quantify the associations between worldwide per capita fat supply and prevalence of overwei...

Background Given the projected trends in population ageing and population growth, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase. In addition, strong evidence has emerged supporting the importance of potentially modifiable risk factors for dementia. Characterising the distribution and magnitude of anticipated growth is crucial for publi...

Background In estimating the global burden of cancer, adolescents and young adults with cancer are often overlooked, despite being a distinct subgroup with unique epidemiology, clinical care needs, and societal impact. Comprehensive estimates of the global cancer burden in adolescents and young adults (aged 15–39 years) are lacking. To address this...

Purpose Vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency may increase the susceptibility to COVID-19. We aimed to determine the association between vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency and susceptibility to COVID-19, its severity, mortality and role of vitamin D in its treatment. Methods We searched CINHAL, Cochrane library, EMBASE, PubMED, Scopus, and Web of Sci...

Objective: To identify the optimal AUSDRISK threshold score to screen for pre-diabetes and diabetes. Methods: A total of 406 adult patients not diagnosed with diabetes were screened in General Practices (GP) between May and October 2019. All patients received a point of care (POC) HbA1c test. HbA1c test results were categorised into diabetes (≥6.5%...

Background Obesity prevalence has increased during the past few decades, causing a pandemic with an influx in other co-morbidities. Many factors influence weight gain in an obesogenic environment therefore strategies for treating obesity may vary from conventional dietary and physical activity interventions to pharamacotherapy. A shift in unconvent...

Introduction: Due to the composition and biological properties of coconut oil, there is still considerable debate regarding potential benefits for the management of obesity, including the specific impact on body weight (BW) reduction. This systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials aims to assess the impact of coconut oil on BW reducti...

Background: Identification of internationally comparable indicators of medicines use are important for a country to implement strategies and regulations to improve usage of medicines. Sri Lanka established a new National Medicines Regulatory Authority in 2015 and this survey evaluated the medication use indicators in Sri Lanka, according to the In...

Background Regularly updated data on stroke and its pathological types, including data on their incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability, risk factors, and epidemiological trends, are important for evidence-based stroke care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) aims to provide a...

Background The sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Understanding the current state of the HIV epidemic and its change over time is essential to this effort. This study assesses the current sex-specific HIV burden in 204 countries and territories and measures progress in the control of the epid...

Background Tuberculosis is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, causing more than a million deaths annually. Given an emphasis on equity in access to diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in global health targets, evaluations of differences in tuberculosis burden by sex are crucial. We aimed to assess the levels and trends of the...

Background Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabiliti...

Background: Measuring routine childhood vaccination is crucial to inform global vaccine policies and programme implementation, and to track progress towards targets set by the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) and Immunization Agenda 2030. Robust estimates of routine vaccine coverage are needed to identify past successes and persistent vulnerabilit...

Introduction: Certain pharmacological and lifestyle interventions have been shown to reduce progression of pre-diabetes. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analyses of studies assessing the outcomes of zinc supplementation in individuals with pre-diabetes. Evidence acquisition: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, SciVer...

Background and aims Systemic review (SR) and meta-analysis (MA) of interventional studies are considered as the highest level of evidence for clinical decision making. Therefore, we systematically summarized all high-quality evidence on the usage of coconut oil for health-related benefits from SRs and MA. Methods PubMed®, Web of science®, SciVerse...

India has experienced a recent sharp increase in diabetes/pre-diabetes. We conducted a systematic-review and meta-analyses to describe the most recent prevalence and trends of pre-diabetes/diabetes in urban and rural India. A literature search was conducted in PubMed and Scopus databases for population-based studies describing prevalence of diabete...

Background: Although it is reported in numerous interventional and observational studies, that a low-fat diet consists an effective method to combat overweight and obesity,the relationship at the global population level is not well established. This study aimed to quantify the associations between worldwide per capita fat supply and prevalence of o...

Background The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess whether the available research to date supports the use of portion-controlled plate (PCP) and leads to reductions in body weight and improvements in other anthropometric and biochemical parameters. The systematic review summarizes existing PCPs and their impact on anth...

Irrational prescribing is common, especially in developing countries. It is important to identify the magnitude of irrational use, to take necessary steps to promote rational prescribing. We identified core prescribing indicators and commonly prescribed medicines at ward settings (IW) and outpatients’ clinics (OPC) in a tertiary care hospital in Sr...

Abstract Background Emotional intelligence (EI) is thought to play a significant role in professional and academic success. EI is important for medical personnel to cope with highly stressful circumstances during clinical and academic settings. The present prospective follow-up study intends to evaluate the changes in EI and their correlates among...

Background and aims COVID-19 is an ongoing global pandemic, affecting nearly 35 million people from 214 countries as at September 30, 2020 and emerging evidence suggests that obesity is a potential risk factor for communicable diseases, including viral infections. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between obesity prevalence of the total a...

Background and aims High total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) could be major risk factors for cardiovascular disease burden among high risk populations especially in South Asians. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the effects of coconut oil compared with other oils and fats on cardio-metabo...

Obesity is defined as an abnormal/excessive accumulation of body fat, associated with health consequences. Although overall obesity does confer a significant threat to the health of individuals, the distribution of body fat, especially abdominal/central obesity is of greater importance. For practical reasons, proxy anthropometric measurements have...

Objective: To assess sex-based differences in the prevalence of risk factor, their management, and differences in the prognosis among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Sri Lanka. Methods: Patients diagnosed with ACS were recruited from hospitals throughout the island. The Joint European Societies guidelines were used to assess recommended targets...

Objective. To assess sex-based differences in the prevalence of risk factor, their management, and differences in the prognosis among acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Sri Lanka. Methods. Patients diagnosed with ACS were recruited from hospitals throughout the island. e Joint European Societies guidelines were used to assess recommended targets for...

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a simple and quick method used for assessment of body composition (BC). Present study aims to develop and validate a BIA prediction equation for Sri Lankan adults. Healthy adults (≥18 years) were randomly selected for development and validation of the equation. BIA was performed using the Inbody 230 multifr...

Background and aims Diabetes is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Recent studies have demonstrated that nutraceutical products have beneficial effects in diabetes. Present study aims to investigate whether a product (Lysulin™) containing amino acid lysine, micronutrient zinc and vitamin C will have beneficial effects in pre-diab...

Background: Pranayama (yogic breathing) has demonstrated numerous beneficial health effects. At present, there are no systematic reviews evaluating the beneficial health effects of pranayama alone as a practice. Aim: The aim of this study is to perform a systematic review about the beneficial health effects of pranayama. Methods: Data were obt...

Background and aims Balanced nutrition which can help in maintaining immunity is essential for prevention and management of viral infections. While data regarding nutrition in coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are not available, in this review, we aimed to evaluated evidence from previous clinical trials that evaluated nutrition-based interventions...

Drug-induced immune haemolytic anaemia (DIIHA) is extremely rare. We herein report a case of DIIHA due to co-amoxiclav. A 53-year-old male being treated for left-sided pyelonephritis with intravenous co-amoxiclav developed symptoms and signs of anaemia on the third day of treatment. He was found to have evidence of haemolysis with a positive Coombs...

Objective: The study aimed to develop and validate a percentage body fat (%BF) prediction equation using SFT for Sri Lankan adults. Methods: Healthy adults (≥18 years) were randomly selected and SFT was measured in five areas (triceps, biceps, calf, suprailliac and subscapular). Body composition analysis was evaluated by Deuterium oxide (D2O) di...

Context: Obesity is defined as an abnormal or excessive accumulation of body fat. Traditionally, it has been assessed using a wide range of anthropometric, biochemical , and radiological measurements, with each having its advantages and disadvantages. Objective: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify novel anthropometric...

Objectives: The SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) is a geopolitical organization composed of 8 neighboring countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The objective of this study was to compare the prices of some selected drugs in SAARC countries. Methods: A list of 24 d...