PROFESSOR OF THE FACULTY OF PHARMACY UI, PROF. APT. RANI SAURIASARI: THE IMPORTANCE OF CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY IN THE STUDY OF DRUG USE FOR EVIDENCE-BASED DECISION MAKING
Decision-making in health services requires a complex and integrated process from various aspects, such as reliable scientific evidence, practitioner expertise, patient characteristics, needs, values, and preferences. Scientific evidence from reliable studies is needed to assist decision-making at the micro level to high-level policies at the macro level. Decision-making in the health sector without utilizing scientific evidence will lead to low effectiveness, efficiency, and feasibility in the health system; thus leading to the dissatisfaction of many parties.
In order to produce appropriate and beneficial policies, it is necessary to formulate them using trusted scientific evidence, especially studies on populations in Indonesia. Rani Sauriasari highlighted the importance of health research based on clinical biochemistry in the Indonesian population, especially those related to chronic non-communicable diseases.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic non-communicable disease that is included in the category of the fastest-growing health emergency in the 21st century. This disease has a rapidly rising prevalence, both at the national and global levels. According to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) through Diabetes Atlas, the number of diabetics in Indonesia is 19.5 million in 2021 and is expected to increase to 23.5 million in 2030. This data places Indonesia in fifth place in the world after China, India, Pakistan, and the United States.
Several studies have reported that the glycemic control of diabetes mellitus patients in Indonesia is still suboptimal, and many patients experience complications. Complications of diabetes mellitus such as kidney failure become a catastrophic disease that requires long treatment and high costs. If not prevented, this will become the biggest health burden for the country. In addition, kidney complications in diabetes mellitus known as diabetic kidney disease are often known too late due to the lack of understanding regarding the disease development (pathogenesis).
According to Rani, the development of this disease involves various mechanisms, so a single biomarker is not enough to describe the entire process that occurs. Instead, a panel of biomarkers is considered to be more representative of various mechanisms of disease development and has the potential to be a more accurate biomarker. Based on the results of the study, there are three groups of biomarkers in the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease, which are biomarkers related to glomerular damage, biomarkers related to inflammation, and biomarkers related to tubular damage.
Diabetic kidney disease involves various pathogenesis processes that cause biochemical changes in the body. Information from biochemical parameters is useful for the process of selecting actions that suit patient needs, so as to achieve the desired outcome, avoid side effects, and reduce treatment costs. “Biochemical parameters are useful in uncovering the pathogenesis of diabetic kidney disease through metabolomic and proteomic study methods. This can be used to assess the effectiveness, safety, and adherence to patient treatment,” said Rani in her speech for the inauguration of Tenured Professor of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Indonesia (FFUI), Wednesday (8/3), at Balai Sidang UI, Depok Campus.
Rani added that the safety of drug use must be monitored through various pharmacovigilance activities aimed at detecting drug safety problems, detecting an increase in the frequency of side effects at certain times and/or populations, identifying risk factors, and quantifying risks. In addition, pharmacovigilance activities also include communication of drug safety information to health workers, relevant stakeholders, and the public.
Prevention of the spread of adverse events in cases of kidney disease can be done by increasing the awareness and skills of health workers in detecting and reporting adverse events to regulators. Patients and health workers can report adverse events that they experience when using drugs to the National Center for Drug Side Effects Monitoring (MESO Center), the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) through the website https://e-meso.pom.go.id/ and the mobile e-meso application. The data from the report can be used to support studies on drug use in the Indonesian population which is needed in evidence-based decision-making to improve the health quality of Indonesia’s human resources.
Thanks to this finding, Prof. apt. Rani Sauriasari, M.Med.Sci., Ph.D., was successfully inaugurated as a Tenured Professor in the Field of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy UI. The inauguration ceremony was led by UI Rector Prof. Ari Kuncoro, S.E., M.A., Ph.D., and attended by several guests, including the Head of BPOM for the 2010-2011 Period, Dra. apt. Kustantinah, M.App.Sc .; CEO of Media Group-Metro TV Mohammad Mirdal Akib; Director of PT Taisho Pharmaceutical Indonesia apt. Budhy Herwindo, S.Si.; and Researcher at Integrative Pharmacogenomics Institute, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, Dr. Richard Muhammad Johari James.
Prof. Rani completed her undergraduate in Pharmacy (1999) and a Pharmacist Professional Program (2000) at UI. She then took postgraduate studies at the Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Japan in 2007. Still at the same campus and department, she received her Ph.D. in 2011. Currently, apart from being a part of the academic personnel at FFUI, Rani also serves as the Manager of Cooperation, Venture, and Alumni Relations of FFUI.
Some of the latest scientific works written by her include the Role of Urinary H2O2, 8-iso-PGF2α, and Serum oxLDL/β2GP1 Complex in the Diabetic Kidney Disease (Plos One, 2022); Treatment Adherence and Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients (Patient Preference and Adherence, 2022); and Current Updates on Protein as Biomarkers for Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review (Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2021).
Author: Sasa
