January 01, 2009


Dear Doctor

Happy New Year.

After the previous edition of Medinews, we got very positive response from every corner of Bangladesh. We are very much thankful to them who participated in Mediquiz and blessed us with their valuable suggestions. In every edition, we reviewed the Medinews according to your suggestions.

On the current issue, we arranged a time demanding & your requested topic, Role of Ursodeoxycholic Acid in Managing Gall Stone Disease and Fatty Liver. Professor Salimur Rahman, Department of Hepatology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Dr. Mamun-Al-Mahtab, Assistant Professor, Department of Hepatology, BSMMU has given the most resourceful write up for the lead article. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a dihydroxy bile acid that contributes 3-4% to the human bile acid pool. UDCA has choleretic effect to increase hepatocellular bile acid excretion. It also has cytoprotective, anti-apoptotic and immunomodulatory properties. It has high first-pass metabolism approaching 70%. Oral absorption is facilitated by bile acid solubilization, the reason why UDCA is administered with meals. Concurrent administration with cholestyramine, activated charcoal and aluminum-containing antacid reduce intestinal uptake of UDCA by intra-luminal binding. UDCA is indicated primarily for treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), a condition rather common in the West, but rarely seen in our part of the globe. In PBC patients, UDCA achieves symptomatic relief, improves biochemical parameters and liver histology and most importantly prolongs survival. Gall stone and fatty liver are two other important indications of UDCA, especially so in Bangladesh given the high incidence of these two hepato-biliary diseases in Bangladesh.

GPL is very much concerned about the growing hepatic problem in Bangladesh and that’s why we are the first company in Bangladesh to introduce ursodeoxycholic acid, Ursodil. In the product profile section you will find all about Ursodil and we are sure in your day to day practice it will be very helpful as well as you can prescribe a good and effective drug for your patients having hepatic and gall bladder problem.

We hope that, like the previous issues you will be also getting some refreshing information regarding this serious health issue.

While we are preparing this Medinews, General Election 2008 was held. We would like to congratulate all the candidates elected in the election and hope that together we can take our beloved country to that destination we all want to see by forgetting all the bitter issues in our national life.

We have selected 10 lucky winners of Mediquiz by raffle draw and they already have received their gift from GPL personnel. You can find their names as well as glimpse of the gift-hand over ceremony inside.

Finally we would like to inform you again that we are very much interested to receive your feedback regarding The Medinews. Your feedback always helps us to make the Medinews more useful.

Wish you all the best and hope this New Year 2009 will bring success in every step of your life.



Thanks & Regards




Dr. Ziad Rahman
Executive Editor