PARTAKE Survey of Public Knowledge and Perceptions of Clinical Research in India

Background

A public that is an informed partner in clinical research is important for ethical, methodological, and operational reasons. There are indications that the public is unaware or misinformed, and not sufficiently engaged in clinical research but studies on the topic are lacking. PARTAKE – Public Awareness of Research for Therapeutic Advancements through Knowledge and Empowerment is a program aimed at increasing public awareness and partnership in clinical research. The PARTAKE Survey is a component of the program.

Objective

To study public knowledge and perceptions of clinical research.

Methods

A 40-item questionnaire combining multiple-choice and open-ended questions was administered to 175 English- or Hindi-speaking individuals in 8 public locations representing various socioeconomic strata in New Delhi, India.

Results

Interviewees were 18–84 old (mean: 39.6, SD±16.6), 23.6% female, 68.6% employed, 7.3% illiterate, 26.3% had heard of research, 2.9% had participated and 58.9% expressed willingness to participate in clinical research. The following perceptions were reported (% true/% false/% not aware): ‘research benefits society’ (94.1%/3.5%/2.3%), ‘the government protects against unethical clinical research’ (56.7%/26.3%/16.9%), ‘research hospitals provide better care’ (67.2%/8.7%/23.9%), ‘confidentiality is adequately protected’ (54.1%/12.3%/33.5%), ‘participation in research is voluntary’ (85.3%/5.8%/8.7%); ‘participants treated like ‘guinea pigs’’ (20.7%/53.2%/26.0%), and ‘compensation for participation is adequate’ (24.7%/12.9%/62.3%).

Conclusions

Results suggest the Indian public is aware of some key features of clinical research (e.g., purpose, value, voluntary nature of participation), and supports clinical research in general but is unaware of other key features (e.g., compensation, confidentiality, protection of human participants) and exhibits some distrust in the conduct and reporting of clinical trials. Larger, cross-cultural surveys are required to inform educational programs addressing these issues.     

Biodegradation kinetics of the nitramine explosive CL-20 in soil and microbial cultures

The cyclic nitramine explosive CL-20 (C₆H₆N₁₂O₁₂, 2,4,6,8,10,12-hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12 -hexaazaisowurtzitane) is a relatively new energetic compound which could be a persistent organic pollutant. To follow its biodegradation dynamics, CL-20 was added to soil alone or together with organic co-substrates and N-source and incubated under oxic and anoxic conditions. Without co-substrates, the CL-20 degradation was detectable only under anoxic conditions. The highest degradation rate was found under aerobic conditions and with the addition of co-substrates, succinate and pyruvate being more efficient than acetate, glucose, starch or yeast extract. When added to intact soil, CL-20 degradation was not affected by the N content, but in soil serially diluted with N-free succinate-mineral medium, the process became N-limited. About 40% of randomly selected bacterial colonies grown on succinate agar medium were able to decompose CL-20. Based on 16S rDNA gene sequence and cell morphology, they were affiliated to Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, Ochrobactrum, Mycobacterium and Ralstonia. In the pure culture of Pseudomonas sp. MS-P grown on the succinate-mineral N(+) medium, the degradation kinetics were first order with the same apparent kinetic constant throughout growth and decline phases of the batch culture. The observed kinetics agreed with the model that supposes co-metabolic transformation of CL-20 uncoupled from cell growth, which can be carried out by several constitutive cellular enzymes with wide substrate specificity. The GenBank accession numbers for the 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained on this study are AY773005–AY773010. Pseudomonas sp. MS-P (=B-41417) was deposited with Agriculture Research Service Culture Collection, USA.     

Synthesis of a quaternary polyprenyl ammonium salt

Reaction of primary C(55)-allylic alcohol moraprenol (WT(3)C(7-9)-OH, a polyprenol from mulberry leaves) with triethylamine in the presence of phosphorus oxychloride leads to a quaternary ammonium chloride with a good yield (72%) and high cis-stereoselectivity of the terminal isoprene unit. Cationic polyprenyl derivatives may be useful for transfection and immunological studies.     

In vivo study of fidelity of DNA double-strand break repair in bacteriophage T4

A method for in vivo studying the fidelity of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair in bacteriophage T4 has been developed. The frequency of reversion of rII mutations to the wild phenotype was measured in i segC+ x i ets 1 segCDelta crosses, where ets 1 is an insertion in the initial part of the rII gene carrying a sequence recognized by SegC endonuclease; i designates a rIIB or rIIA mutation located at some distance from ets 1, and segCDelta is a deletion in the segC gene. In such cross, a DSB occurs in the site of ets 1. Their repair involves genetic recombination and DNA replication in the neighborhood of ets 1. In parallel, the frequency of reversion of the same i mutant in the absence of DSBs is measured in i x i self-crosses. Reversions of different types (base substitutions, deletions, insertions) can be studied with the use of structurally different i mutations located at varying distances from ets 1. The reversion frequencies were determined for three rIIB mutations and one rIIA mutation. The results obtained suggest that DSB repair in bacteriophage T4 is a process of high fidelity with the rate of errors that does not essentially exceed that in the case of usual phage multiplication.     

Identification of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</Emphasis> Rad51C: Recombinational characteristics

Unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a promising model for fundamental and biotechnological research. However, little is known about its system of homologous recombination underlying recombination repair of double-strand breaks. Sequencing of the C. reinhardtii nuclear genome has revealed many repeats, which account for a low level of nuclear homologous recombination compared to that of nonhomologous recombination. Analysis of C. reinhardtii EST and genomic libraries made it possible to reconstruct and clone the RAD51C cDNA. In this work, this cDNA was expressed, the protein product was purified, and its main biochemical activities were studied. It was shown that Rad51C of lower eukaryote C. reinhardtii is a typical member of the subfamily of higher eukaryotic Rad51-like recombination proteins.Translated from Molekulyarnaya Biologiya, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2005, pp. 112–119.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Shalguev, Kaboev, Sizova, Hagemann, Lanzov.     

Dolichyl sulphate and H-phosphonate: enzymatic reactions with activated sugars.

Two phosphate-modified analogues of dolichyl phosphate were evaluated as substrates or inhibitors of the reactions catalyzed by mammalian microsomal enzymes. Dolichyl H-phosphonate could serve as an efficient acceptor for mannosyl and glucosyl transfer. The reaction products were chromatographically different from those formed from dolichyl phosphate. Lower activity of the H-phosphonate was observed for the reaction of N-acetylglucosaminyl phosphate transfer from UDP-GlcNAc. Dolichyl sulphate was shown not to serve as a substrate for the transfer of mannosyl (from GDP-Man), glucosyl (from UDP-Glc) or N-acetylglucosaminyl phosphate (from UDP-GlcNAc) residues in the presence of rat liver microsomes. Weak inhibitory properties of this analogue were demonstrated.