Anil D'mello PhD
Anil D'mello PhD
Director, Undergraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Science
Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Education
BS (Bombay)
MS (Bombay)
PhD (Pittsburgh)
Research Interests
- Effects of adverse stimuli during pregnancy and lactation on glucose and lipid homeostasis in the adult offspring
- Microencapsulation of enzymes for the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism
Synopsis
Dr. D’mello received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.Pharm from the University of Bombay. He teaches Pharmacokinetics in the Undergraduate, Professional and Graduate programs. He is the recipient of the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Outstanding Teacher of the Year award. Dr D’mello serves on review panels of the NIH R15 and SBIR/STTR programs. He has served as primary supervisor to 11 Ph.D. students and 3 M.S. students.
Our research focuses on two different areas. We are interested in the effects of low protein diet during pregnancy and lactation on glucose and lipid homeostasis in the adult offspring. We have discovered that perinatal low protein diet in rats alters triglyceride content in the livers of the adult offspring. Current studies are using gene expression, western blot, and enzyme kinetic techniques to determine if the alteration in lipid triglyceride content is due to changes in pathways of lipid synthesis and utilization. Work in this area has been supported by multiple R15 grants from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development.
More recently the laboratory has revived an earlier interest in encapsulating enzymes into microcapsules. Using the spray drying technique, we have encapsulated phenylalanine ammonia lyase into ethylcellulose microcapsules. The encapsulated enzyme is functional and breaks down phenylalanine into trans cinnamic acid. We are using novel formulation strategies to enhance the efficiency of encapsulation of the enzyme into microcapsules and maximize the functional activity of the encapsulated enzyme within the core of the microcapsule. The system will be utilized for the treatment of phenylketonuria, an inborn error of metabolism characterized by the absence of physiologic systems to metabolize phenylalanine and the resultant accumulation of toxic plasma and brain levels of phenylalanine.
Selected Scholarly Activity
Effects of adverse stimuli during pregnancy and lactation on glucose and lipid homeostasis in the adult offspring
Rani J. Qasem, Jing Li , Hee Man Tang, Laura Pontiggia, Anil P. D’mello. Maternal protein restriction during pregnancy and lactation alters central leptin signaling, increases food intake, and decreases bone mass in one year old rat offspring. Clin.Exp.Pharmacol. Physiol. 43, 494-502, 2016.
Rani J. Qasem, Jing Li, Hee Man Tang, Veron Browne, Claudia Mendez, Elizabeth Yablonski Laura Pontiggia, Anil P. D’mello. Decreased liver triglyceride content in adult rats exposed to protein restriction during gestation and lactation: role of hepatic triglyceride utilization. Clin. Exp. Pharmacol. Physiol. 42, 380-388, 2015
Rani J. Qasem, Elizabeth Yablonski , Jing Li, Hee Man Tang, Laura Pontiggia, Anil P. D’mello. Elucidation of thrifty features in offspring of rat dams fed a low protein diet during pregnancy and lactation. Physiol. Behav.,105, 1182-1192, 2012
Rani Qasem, Ganesh Cherala, and Anil P. D’mello. Maternal protein restriction during pregnancy and lactation in rats imprints long term reduction in hepatic lipid content selectively in the male offspring. Nut. Res., 30, 410-417, 2010
Microencapsulation of enzymes for the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism
Ruchi Shah and Anil P. D’mello. Strategies to maximize the encapsulation efficiency of phenylalanine ammonia lyase in microcapsules. Int.J. Pharmaceut., 356, 61 - 68, 2008
Ruchi M. Shah and Anil P. D=mello. Stabilization of phenylalanine ammonia lyase against organic solvent mediated deactivation. Int.J. Pharmaceut., 331, 107-115, 2007
Susan Habibi-Moini, and Anil P. D=mello. Evaluation of possible reasons for the low phenylalanine ammonia lyase activity within cellulose nitrate membrane microcapsules. Intl. J. Pharmaceutics., 215: 185-196, 2001
Contact Information
Office location: | Robert McNeil Graduate Study and Research Center Room 109A |
Mailing address: | Box 80 University of Sciences 600 South 43rd Street Philadelphia, PA 19104-4495 |
Office Phone: | 215.596.8941 |
Email: | a [dot] dmello [at] usciences [dot] edu |