Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Journal

Physicochemical Characterization of Gum Isolated from Sterculia setigera for Potential Application as Pharmaceutical Excipient in Tablet Formulations

2025-02-19T12:20:33+00:00

Sterculia setigera gum, also known as gum karaya, is a vegetable gum produced as an exudate. No teratogenic and mutagenic effects were reported from gum karaya toxicity studies. The aim of this study was to extract the gum fraction of S. setigera and to characterize its properties for potential application in pharmaceutical formulations. The colour of the extracted powder was grayish white, and its loss on drying was 1.2 ± 0.7%, which showed its suitability for formulating stable tablets, especially for moisture-sensitive drugs. The total ash value of S. setigera gum was 6.98 ± 0.41%, which was within the British Pharmacopeia specification. The solubility determination of S. setigera gum showed that it was sparingly soluble in water and insoluble in organic solvents, but soluble in 1:1 hydroalcoholic mixtures of ethanol and water or methanol and water. The swelling ratio was high, which increases with temperature. Scanning electron microscope images showed irregularly shaped (near to triangular), non-spherical, and of varying sized particles. Moisture sorption increased with increased relative humidity (RH) ranging from 0.40 ± 0.32% at 20% RH to 3.13 ± 0.24% at 100% RH. The Carr’s Index (25.00 ± 0.65) and Hausner Ratio (1.33 ± 0.14) values showed passable flow properties of the gum powder. The DSC and X-ray diffraction studies showed the amorphous nature of the gum. The findings of this study showed that S. setigera gum’s physicochemical properties were within pharmacopoeial specifications and showed its potential applications as a pharmaceutical excipient such as a binder or a sustained release excipient in tablet formulations.

In Vivo Antidiarrhoeal Activity and Molecular Docking Studies of a Coumarin Isolated from the Root Extract of Impatiens ethiopica Grey-Wilson

2025-02-19T14:24:18+00:00

Impatiens ethiopica Grey-Wilson has been traditionally used in the treatment of infectious diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the antidiarrhoeal potential of I. ethiopica root extract and its major constituent. The investigation employed in vivo models, including castor oil-induced diarrhoeal model, antienteropooling test, and charcoal meal test in mice. The 80% methanol extract of I. ethiopica significantly reduced the frequency of defecation, faecal weight, and diarrhoea onset at administered doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg. The active root extract was sequentially separated into four fractions based on solubility using petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol, and water. Further fractionation of the methanol fraction via column chromatography yielded scopoletin (7-hydroxy-6- methoxycoumarin), confirmed through spectroscopic analysis. Scopoletin also exhibited significant antidiarrhoeal activity by reducing intestinal fluid accumulation and gastrointestinal (GI) motility at doses of 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg. Scopoletin is suggested to act on prostaglandin synthase (PGS, COX-2; PDB ID: 4COX), showing a promising docking score of −7.941 kcal/mol. It exhibits a strong binding affinity, forming hydrogen bonds with SER530 and engaging in - stacking interactions with TYR385 and TRP387 at specific COX-2 binding sites. These findings highlight that the antidiarrhoeal activity of I. ethiopica was attributed to the presence of scopoletin. Overall, these results uphold the traditional use of I. ethiopica roots in the treatment of diarrhoea and highlight the potential of scopoletin as antidiarrhoeal compound.

Atypical Antipsychotics Medication Side Effects and its Associated Factors among Patients with Schizophrenia at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2025-02-19T14:50:01+00:00

Schizophrenia is a severe, common mental disorder that affects around 1% of the world population. The use of atypical antipsychotics has substantially increased in recent years. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of atypical antipsychotic medication side effects and its associated factors. Cross-sectional study was conducted from 3 October 2022 to 31 August 2023. An ordinal logistic regression model was used and the analysis was done using SPSS version 25. P-value less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. A total of 271 patients were included for analysis. The majority of patients reported they experienced absent/ mild side effects, 200 (73.8%). The most common side effects reported were extrapyramidal side effects (136, 50.2%) and sedation and central nervous system side effects (125, 46.1%). Individuals who underwent a medication switch (adjusted odds ratio, 2.6; CI: 1.357, 5.074; p = 0.004) and substance use were experiencing higher levels of severe side effects (adjusted odds ratio, 1.9; CI: 1.027, 3.538; p = 0.041). Additionally, the odds of experiencing higher side effects among patients with comorbidity was 4.1 times higher than without comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio, 4.1; CI: 1.261, 13.496; p = 0.019). Similarly, age (adjusted odds ratio, 0.96, CI: 0.923, 0.992; p = 0.018) and total score of positive and negative syndrome scale (adjusted odds ratio, 1.01, CI: 1.003, 1.020; p = 0.011) were predictors of side effects. Overall, antipsychotic medication side effects were prevalent. The most common were extrapyramidal side effects, anticholinergic side effects, sedations, and central nervous system side effects. Clinicians should discuss treatment options and associated side effects with patients before initiating therapy and explore strategies to reduce and manage side effects.

Anti-TB Medicines Supply Chain Management Practices in Public Health Facilities of Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

2025-02-19T14:58:28+00:00

The fight against tuberculosis (TB), one of the leading causes of death worldwide, depends on a wellfunctioning supply chain system of anti-TB medicines. There is a paucity of information on the anti-TB medicine supply chain management situation in the Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Hence, this study explored supply chain practices in public health facilities of the Zone. A concurrent mixed methods design was followed to collect quantitative and qualitative data from August to September 2020. A total of 20 health facilities were involved in the study following the logistics indicator assessment tool recommendations to include at least 15% of the facilities in the geographic region. A structured questionnaire and observational checklist were used to collect quantitative data. In-depth interviews were done with experts from selected health facilities, Gurage Zone health department, Regional Health Bureau, the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Services and the Federal Ministry of Health for the qualitative part of the study. Inductive thematic analysis was employed for qualitative, while descriptive statistics were utilized for the quantitative data. Eighteen out of the 20 facilities in the study (90%) relied solely on stock recording cards, one (5%) used computerized system and the other one did not have any system for controlling their anti-TB medicine inventory. The average inventory accuracy for a set of anti-TB medicines was 76.6% with a range from 0% to 100%. For a set of anti-TB medicines, the average availability in the review period was 82.6% and the average stock out duration was 11.23 ± 1.38 days in a year (Min. = 0, Max. = 115). The average wastage rate for a set of first-line anti-TB medicines was 4.8%. The thematic analysis identified the themes: forecasting and procurement, storage and inventory management and supervision and updates on guidelines. Data accuracy issues and long lead time were forecasting and procurement related challenges for anti-TB medicines. Poor condition of storage facilities and outdated stock records were storage and inventory management related challenges. Weak supervision and resource limitations for trainings were supervision and updates on guidelines related challenges. Overall, the study documented poor stock management practices reflected by presence of shortages and wastages of essential anti-TB medicines. Digitalization of inventory control systems and capacity-building interventions to improve quantification are recommended to improve the supply chain management practices of the studied facilities.

Khat Chewing Practices and Treatment Discontinuation among People with Serious Mental Illness at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

2025-02-19T15:04:46+00:00

Comorbid substance use in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) is considered a risk factor for treatment discontinuation. There are limited studies on the association of khat (Catha edulis F) chewing, a common practice in Ethiopia and Eastern Africa, with treatment discontinuation. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of khat chewing on treatment discontinuation among people with serious mental illness at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis ababa, Ethiopia. Cross sectional study was undertaken. Data was collected using semi structured questionnaire and data abstraction format from patient’s medical record. A total of 805 with 405 khat chewer and 400 non-chewer individuals with SMI were involved in the study. The data was analysed using SPSS V-23; binary logistic regression was used and p value less than 0.05 in multivariate analysis was considered significant. The prevalence of treatment discontinuation was 34.3% without significant difference between khat chewer and non-chewer individuals (p = 0.445). Treatment discontinuation was significantly associated with relapse and suicide ideation. The odds of treatment discontinuation was 2.3 times higher in relapsing individuals compared to the nonrelapsing individuals with serious mental illness, AOR (95% CI) of 2.3 (1.6 - 3.5). The odd of treatment discontinuation was 1.7 times higher in individuals with suicidal ideation compared to those who don not have suicide ideation, AOR (95% CI) of 1.7 (1.2 -2.5). In conclusion one third of patients with SMI had treatment discontinuation. Relapse and suicide ideation, which were associated with treatment discontinuation, increases hospitalization and associated treatment burden in individuals with SMI. There should be mechanism to closely follow patients at community level to detect and manage treatment discontinuation as early as possible.

Validity and Reliability of the Amharic CDLQI for Evaluating Quality of Life in Ethiopian Atopic Dermatitis Patients

2025-02-19T15:11:06+00:00

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease that substantially impacts healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) in people of all ages. However, its impact is substantially high in children. The Cardiff Child Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) is one of the most well-known dermatologyspecific instruments to measure HRQoL of children suffering from skin diseases. The tool has been translated into 44 languages in 28 countries to measure the effects of more than 14 skin conditions, including AD. However, the Amharic version of CDLQI tool has not yet been validated. Thus, the objective of this study was to validate the Amharic version of the CDLQI tool for AD patients in Ethiopia. A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 200 children (5 - 16 years) with confirmed AD were interviewed. Bartlett’s (BS) test of sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy were used to ascertain the appropriateness of the data for factor analysis. Pearson correlation matrix, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s alpha test were performed to assess convergent validity, construct validity and internal consistency of the tool, respectively. The Minimum Discrepancy Function divided by Degrees of Freedom (CMIN/DF) was 4.7 indicating a reasonable fit of the model. The comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.935 indicating good fit of the model. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.87 showing a good internal consistency between the 10 items in the tool. Inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.15 and 0.715. The overall finding demonstrated that the Amharic version of CDLQI tool was a reliable and valid tool to assess the quality of life for children diagnosed with AD in Ethiopia. Further cultural validation and feasibility studies are recommended among patients with other conditions.

Antidepressant-like Effect of the Leaf Extract of Momordica foetida Schumach. et Thonn. in Rodent Models of Depression

2025-02-19T15:17:03+00:00

People living with depression develop treatment-resistant depression in which they do not respond to available medications or other therapeutic approaches. Momordica foetida Schumach. et Thonn. (Cucurbitaceae) is used in northern Ethiopia, to treat psychiatric disorders. The current study investigated the antidepressant-like effects of the 80% methanolic leaf extract of M. foetida using the rodent models tail suspension and forced swim tests. The effect of the hydroalcoholic extract on locomotor activity was also studied using the open-field test. Based on the results of acute toxicity test, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg doses of the extract were tested. In the tail suspension test, the extract as well as the positive control (imipramine 30 mg/kg) showed significant (p < 0.05) reductions in immobility time compared to the control group at all doses. Duration of immobility observed in the forced swim test with the extract was not significantly different from the control group. By contrast, the positive control produced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in immobility compared to controls. However, no significant change in locomotion was observed in the open field test at these doses. Overall, the results obtained demonstrated that M. foetida extract possesses antidepressant activity in the tail suspension test, providing evidence, at least in part, for the traditional use of the plant for psychiatric disorders. However, further studies are required to validate its use.