Siok-Yee Chan

Universiti Sains Malaysia | USM · Discipline of Pharmaceutical Technology

The United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals emphasizes education quality. For females' education is about empowerment and instilling a sense of belonging. Empowering females via STEM education is an effective tool on various levels. The initiation of extracurricular activities (ECA) in STEM in the currently studied Iraqi university is an...

Formulation design is necessary to improve drug solubility, particularly for drugs in Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) classes II and IV. The formulating decision is often affected by the drug's physicochemical properties. To complement the available knowledge, the thermal and structural properties of atovaquone have been investigated....

Aflatoxin is naturally occurring mycotoxins produced by fungi. The existence of aflatoxin in herbal medicines is a well-known issue. The detection of aflatoxin with good sensitivity and also that is reliable in complex matrices like herbs usually necessitates difficult processes and powerful detection instrument in preparation of sample. This study...

Electrospinning is a technique to generate fibrous structures through elongation of electrified jets with an external electric field. Its versatility produces fibres that are being utilised in a diverse field, namely tissue engineering, wound dressings, and controlled drug delivery. Electrospinning has been reported to be useful for Biopharmaceutic...

Purpose Semi-solid extrusion (SSE) 3D printing has potential pharmaceutical applications for producing personalised medicine. However, the effects of ink properties and drug incorporation on the quality of printed medication have not been thoroughly studied, particularly for porous geometries. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the pres...

This work is reporting the advocation of a public Malaysia University for the environmental protection through sustainable waste practices ever since its ban on the use of the “White Coffin” initiative in circa 2008, a flagship for environmental activism on its different campuses targeting to get rid of polystyrene containers. This initiative was n...

Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (H.S.) plant and its calyces have received much attention from researchers because of their potential medicinal and nutritional values. Calyces are the major source of anthocyanin in this plant. Therefore, a well-developed, efficient, and accurate analytical method is needed to assure proper standardization and control the qu...

The use of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) as a renewable and green biomaterial in diverse value-added applications has roused substantial interest. Sourcing NCCs from the abundantly available non-woody biomass becomes attractive due to its high cellulose content and low cost. Acid hydrolysis using mineral acids has been widely explored as a facile...

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of bacteriophages isolated from Klang and Penang, Malaysia against Dickeya chrysanthemi that causes soft rot disease. Methodology and results: Basic characterization such as dextrose test, citrate test, lactose fermentation test and ornithine test were carried out on D. chrysanthemi. Activity of...

Citrus grandis or Citrus maxima, widely recognized as Pomelo is widely cultivated in many countries because of their large amounts of functional, nutraceutical and biological activities. In traditional medicine, various parts of this plant including leaf, pulp and peel are used for generations as they are scientifically proven to have therapeutic p...

The water crisis is identified as the most serious global risk for the coming decade. Distilled water is one of the on-demand elements in academic laboratories; however, water scarcity may eventually affect the education sector, necessitating the implementation of new policies. Human behavior, awareness, knowledge, and opinion is having an impact o...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of triclosan (TCS) and flurbiprofen (FLB) with poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), chitosan (CS), and Kolliphor® P188 (KP) for possible application in the design of nano-formulations. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed...

Introduction: The self-emulsifying drug delivery system (SEDDS) has emerged as an effective pharmaceutical strategy for addressing the issue of poorly soluble drug bioavailability, specifically candidates belonging to BCS classes II and IV including azithromycin (AZM, log p = 4). Aside from oil, the main component in SEDDS is the surfactant, which...

The choice of carrier and drug ratio are critical factors as far as the type of solid dispersion is concerned. Amorphous solid dispersion has been cited as the most desirable type among the different types of solid dispersion due to the benefit of amorphicity in increasing the drug solubility of a poorly soluble drug. Recent reports delineated that...

Current research indicates that the next silent epidemic will be linked to chronic liver diseases, specifically non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which was renamed as metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) in 2020. Globally, MAFLD mortality is on the rise. The etiology of MAFLD is multifactorial and still incompletely understood,...

Rice starch is a promising biomaterial for thin film development in buccal drug delivery, but the plasticisation and antiplasticisation phenomena from both plasticisers and drugs on the performance of rice starch films are not well understood. This study aims to elucidate the competing effects of sorbitol (plasticiser) and drug (antiplasticiser) on...

Azithromycin (AZM) is a macrolide antibiotic used for the treatment of various bacterial infections. The drug is known to have low oral bioavailability (37%) which may be attributed to its relatively high molecular weight, low solubility, dissolution rate, and incomplete intestinal absorption. To overcome these drawbacks, liquid (L) and solid (S) s...

Atovaquone (ATQ) is a poorly soluble drug. Therefore, formulating ATQ into its supersaturated state through solid dispersion for bioavailability enhancement can be of great value. However, due to fast crystallising properties of ATQ, the quantification of ATQ in a supersaturated solid dispersion system can be complicated. Therefore, in pursuit of a...

Purpose To evaluate therapeutic effectiveness of antibacterial triclosan (TCS) and anti-inflammatory flurbiprofen (FLB)-loaded nanogels system in ligature-induced experimental periodontitis in rats. Methodology A total of 72 Sprague–Dawley rats were used in this study. Four groups (n=18 each) were randomly created: Group 1 – neither subjected to e...

Introduction Acute promyelocytic leukemia is an oncologic emergency. The limited cases reported in the literature have led to poor understanding of the safety of management of acute promyelocytic leukemia during pregnancy. Case report Herein is an acute promyelocytic leukemia case of a 22-year-old young pregnant woman who had various social proble...

Purpose This study aims to conduct an impact investigation in the hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance as an important factor for dissolution improvement of a hydrophilic carrier-based solid dispersion system. Methods Polymeric carriers with different hydrophobic to hydrophilic ratios were used to prepare several electrospun solid dispersion formulatio...

Water recycling is a critical element that supports sustainable development. While the supply of fresh water is limited, both the world’s population and demand for the resource continues to expand rapidly. According to Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), approximately 2000 children are dying every day as a result of diarrheal diseases due...

Poor solubility and bioavailability of drugs often affected by its microscopic structural properties. Nitrofurantoin (NF), a BCS class II item, has a low water solubility with low plasma concentrations. To improve its therapeutic efficacy, formulation strategy of solid dispersion and co-crystallization are compared herein. The co-crystal is prepare...

Nanocellulose, as a promising natural material, has recently received much attention because of its remarkable features including recyclability, biocompatibility, low risk of toxicity, tunable surface properties, etc. This review article first introduces three types of nanocellulose (NCC, NFC, and BNC) and evaluates their production processes. In a...

This study aimed to develop a dual action, namely anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, nanogels (NG) for the treatment of periodontitis using triclosan (TCS) and flurbiprofen (FLB). Triclosan, an antimicrobial drug, was prepared as nanoparticles (NPs) using poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), while flurbiprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, was directly loade...

The e-book phenomenon has taken us to a whole new era in knowledge dissemination. Although printed books still have their place in the heart of many, the application of e-books may compliment the current role of printed books, besides serving as a low-cost option with less physical storage space needed. Printed books have always been a source of re...

Rice starch is known to have an excellent film-forming behaviour in the packaging industry but inadequate attention was given to this biopolymer to be developed into thin films for drug delivery. Accordingly, rice starch thin films containing a model drug, paracetamol and plasticisers (glycerol or sorbitol) were developed using film casting techniq...

In Malaysia, the new teaching model of a flipped classroom is emerging in higher education with the aim of promoting student-centred learning. Hence the main purpose of this study is to identify the students’ acceptance level, their perceptions, and the impact of their initial exposures to the flipped classroom model. With this in mind, a survey on...

The aim of this study was to design and systematically optimize triclosan loaded nanoparticles (TCS-loaded NPs) formulation for the treatment of periodontal disease. Triclosan (TCS) is a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent that has been used in the treatment of the disease. The free drug has poor aqueous solubility and therefore may encounter permea...

A combination of two drugs involving flurbiprofen (FLB) and triclosan (TCS) has been found to be potential treatment candidates against periodontal disease. In the present study, a new, simple, reliable and stability-indicating high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of FLB and TCS in the dental nanog...

A simple, economic, rapid, reliable, and stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of paracetamol (PCM) and caffeine (CF) in solid dosage form. The chromatographic separations were achieved with a Waters SymmetryW C18 column (5 μm, 4.6 × 150 mm), usi...

Oral drug delivery system provides a simple mechanism and more convenient approach towards colon cancer treatment. Yet, oral drug administration also faced some limitation passing through in the gastrointestinal tract before reaching the targeted area. In this work, a coated gellan gum hydrogel was proposed to increase the treatment efficiency in c...

A new high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for determination of triclosan (TCS) and flurbiprofen (FBP) was successfully developed and validated at a single wavelength. The method involves extraction of the targeted drugs from nanogels and simulated saliva by using methanol as the extractant. The Agilent ZORBAX SB-C18 column (5 μm,...

INTRODUCTION: Triclosan (TCS) is a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent that has been found effective in the treatment of periodontitis. Flurbiprofen (FLB) is an analgesic that has been found efficacious when used as a topical or systemic medication for dental pains. The clinical effectiveness of these drugs in the treatment of periodontitis are limi...

There has been a significant rise in the number of researched and approved drug combination therapies in the recent years due to its therapeutic benefits. The recent innovations in dental drug delivery systems allow simultaneous delivery of multiple drugs from a unit dosage form system to the intended location. Two drugs combination involving tricl...

Formulation scientists are faced with a great hurdle of delivering a therapeutic agent into the periodontal pockets because of the anatomical complexity of the route and the lesion's contours that often leads to poor penetration of the drug to the area. However, recent nanotechnology advancement and innovations through nanodentistry are increasingl...

The understanding of adult patients receiving cancer chemotherapy of their regimen is important for better control of chemotherapy-related side effects. Often, patients forget, misunderstand or unsatisfied with the information received. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of pharmacist-led pre-chemotherapy counselling on t...

Abstract—Solid dispersion (SD) formulation has attracted much attention due to its potential in enhancing dissolution performances of poorly soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). Recently, a review on dissolution performances of SDs classifies the improvement into 3 categories, where 82 % of the studies showed improved bioavailability, 8...

Context: Solution mediated transformation has been cited as one of the main problems that deteriorate performances of solid dispersion (SD). This is mainly attributed by the recrystallization tendency of poorly soluble API. Eventually, it will lead to extensive agglomeration which is a key process in reducing the dissolution performance of SD and...

While hot melt extrusion is now established within the pharmaceutical industry, the prediction of miscibility, processability and structural stability remains a pertinent issue, including the issue of whether molecular interaction is necessary for suitable performance. Here we integrate the use of theoretical and experimental drug-polymer interacti...

Solid dispersion is one of the most promising strategies to improve oral bioavailability of poorly soluble API. However, there are inconsistent dissolution performances of solid dispersion reported which entails further investigation. In this study, solid dispersions of Ketoprofen in three hydrophilic carriers, i.e. PVP K30, PVPVA 6:4 and PVA were...