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Alternatives Database
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Review
By M. Victoria Clos Guillen Victoria.clos@uab.es
Dept. Farmacologica, Terapèutica i Toxicologica, Faculty Veterinaria, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (barcelona), Spain (commissioned by eurca)
Summary
This programme allows for the learning of some aspects of the pharmacology of inflammation and can be recommended as a useful teaching aid in undergraduate courses, above all in which practical skills are not necessary. The programme is well arranged and combines some theoretical and practical aspects in an easy and handy way. However, it is not really an alternative resource.
Comparison of the alternative resource with the real animal model in the laboratory
To study the inflammatory process in the laboratory is a very difficult task, essentially because of equipment, technical support and animal cost, and it also takes significant technical time to prepare it. Consequently, it is not very common to develop such experiments in pharmacology courses. So, this alternative resource will allow the students to get to know several methods used in inflammation studies, and it also has the advantage that the results of the experiments included are based on real data. Nevertheless, the programme has fundamental limitations because the methods and the experimental set-up are very schematic, therefore, it is not well suited to replace real experiments. The students cannot change the experimental conditions and they don’t take part in the obtainment of the results, so they don’t learn in an explorative way due to the results being showed as fixed values in a graph form.
Nevertheless, it is necessary to take into account the objective of the laboratory classes. If the main goal is only to strengthen the learned concepts in the lectures then the present resource attains that objective. But, often, laboratory classes try to provide practice in laboratory skills and data capture, in this case the objective is not reached by the programme.
From a general point of view, a suitable computer programme with an attractive presentation, computer animations and with a detailed description of methodology can improve the ability of students in analysing and interpreting the data obtained in their future experiences in the laboratory. But, in any case these resources will never be able to substitute laboratory skills. However, computer programmes offer the opportunity to introduce several type of experimental studies in the pharmacology courses which were completely impossible to organise in normal laboratory classes, and even in some cases they allow the total replacement of laboratory animals.
Applicability to the teaching situation
The programme is divided into 3 main sections. The first one introduces the students to the inflammation process and the role of different factors involved. This section contains a description of the site of inflammatory events, the role of the vasodilators in changing blood flow and the mediators that induce changes in microvascular permeability. However, from the pharmacological point of view, to better understand some of the results included in the Experimental Section, it would be interesting to introduce here some information about the properties and mechanism of action of the different anti-inflammatory drugs. In the Methodology Section the measurement of oedema formation, neutrophyl accumulation and some models of allergic responses have been described. Due to most of the results being developed using the evaluation of oedema formation in the Experimental Section, more details would be necessary, not only as a text but also as figures or computer animations. Therefore, to develop this programme the students will need additional guidance from a tutor to better understand the link between methodology and experimental results.
Finally, the Experimental Section shows the results obtained in different real experiments using normal and allergic rabbits. The students can select these two experimental conditions in order to know the effects of different inflammation mediators and also of some anti-inflammatory drugs. Nevertheless, the results are shown in graph form and the students have only to interpret the observed data. It is interesting to notice that at the end of each set of experiments, several questions about inflammation mediators and anti-inflammatory drugs are included, so the students can self-assess the main topics of the pharmacology of inflammation.
Consequently, this programme can be used with undergraduate students to accomplish and to reinforce theoretical aspects of the pharmacology of inflammation, but not as an alternative resource.
Visual appearance
It is a well arranged programme, organised in different sections with suitable links, which make it easy to connect to the different screens. Pictures and computer animations have the appropriate quality which facilitates the understanding of some theoretical and practical aspects.
Service provided by the supplier
No technical problems have appeared during the trial, but in any case the service support is very effective in both technical and content aspects.
If you are an author or supplier of this alternative and you would like to write a response to this review please contact eurca with your reply.
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