Pharmaceutical Sciences articles list

Mentoring relationships between a senior, experienced faculty member and a junior employee, between a faculty member and an undergraduate or graduate student, or between a senior and a junior student is essential in higher education. The current review aims to emphasize the necessity of establishing organized mentorship programs at national institutions to enhance academic performance, teaching/learning effectiveness, knowledge and skill development, growth and development, research productivity, and community engagement. The mentor and mentee both benefit from the mentoring relationship. Academic advising, preceptor supervision, and supervision of graduation projects are different from the mentoring relationship as they focus on only one aspect of the relationship, whether it is the study plan, the study session, or the project, respectively. Mentoring is a mutually beneficial relationship that calls for integrity, decency, self-assurance, trust, and respect. Educational institutes and colleges should set up a committee to establish a well-organized mentoring program with all the necessary templates for recruiting mentors and mentees, and also for annual evaluation and feedback from all parties involved.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are actions or events that occur when two or more drugs administered together, may cause a clinical significance or not. There are certain factors that may affect the severity of DDIs such as age, gender, number of drugs prescribed, and physician specialists. This study aims to answer: Is there DDI in Libyan community pharmacies? In addition, to explore the factors that might be affecting DDI. Drug Interactions Checkers are used. 200 prescriptions were collected randomly from two different areas ( high and low income),100 from each one and were used to investigate the DDIs by using two different sources (Drugs.com and BNF platforms), bearing in mind, age, gender, prescribers’ specialty, and drug number (prescription size). A personal interview questionnaire with pharmacists for investigate a source of DDI knowledge was considered. The correlation test was used to analysis the findings. The randomly selected sample has 316 drug combinations. The study has revealed a minimum of three drugs (46.0%). In general, Drugs.com was the richer source of DDI than BNF (66.5% and 34.5%, respectively). It is found that 66.5% (67.0% of this is moderate DDI) of these combinations have DDI by Drugs.com. A significant correlation between DDI and gender (male > female, p = 0.035) was found. In a state of residential areas, the results are similar in both selected pharmacies. Most moderate DDIs (21.0% and 15.0%) are prescribed by orthopedics and psychiatrists, respectively. The observational interview questionnaire indicated that 100% of the participating pharmacists had no source of knowledge regarding DDI, 100% of 200 prescriptions had no chick it regarding DDI and 100% of found DDI is released to use by community pharmacies to patients. More than half of the prescribed drug combinations have DDIs (classified as moderate DDIs), and all of them are released for use by pharmacists.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

In this article, a systematic flow of contents was provided with regard to the synthesis of Atovaquone 1a on critical examination of the prior-arts. Several patents and study articles were published, disclosing different synthetic methods for the preparation of Atovaquone 1a at various scales. Based on the starting materials used, there are a few one-step, two-step and multi-step synthetic routes were reported with varied yields. In this work, we have put in our sincere effort to collect all the synthetic routes of Atovaquone 1a in detail with distinct and elaborate reaction schemes for a better and collective process clarity. From this review, global researchers will get a platform to re-design or re-work on the synthetic approach of Atovaquone 1a with better atom economy and purity. In addition, the drug commercialization angle could also be looked in during the design stage itself alongside green chemistry concepts. We have done the chronic analysis of study articles to highlight the commercial feasibility of the disclosed synthetic methods. A special emphasis was given to the synthetic routes with process development initiatives towards, recovery/reuse of costly starting materials/reagents/solvents and their feasibility for large scale manufacturing of drug Atovaquone 1a.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Hybanthus enneaspermus, traditionally used as an aphrodisiac was investigated for its potential to reverse antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in female rats. The aqueous extract was evaluated for secondary metabolite, amino acid and mineral constituents. Alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, anthraquinones, steroids, terpenoids, phenolics, calcium, potassium, sodium, glutamine and leucine are some of its notable constituents. 60 healthy, sexually responsive female albino rats (144.7±5.9 gm) were divided into six groups (A-F) of 10 rats each; of which 50 were induced into sexual dysfunction. Rats in group A were administered distilled water throughout the experimental period and served as a control group, while rats induced into sexual dysfunction (Groups B-F) by fluoxetine were given water, the reference medication (Tadalafil) and oral doses of the extract (250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg body weight) once daily for seven days, respectively. When administered to sexually active rats, fluoxetine significantly decreased the frequency of darting, hopping, lordosis, genital grooming, and licking behavior by 57.4%, 42.5%, 43.9%, 64.0%, and 41.8%, respectively. However, the latency of darting, hopping and lordosis were significantly increased by 50.6%, 47.7%, and 54.9%, respectively. Hybanthus enneaspermus aqueous extract administered at doses of 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg significantly reversed fluoxetine-mediated changes in all sexual behavior parameters. The extract's ability to reverse the characteristics of sexual behavior at 1000 mg/kg was comparable to those of tadalafil-treated rats. Additionally, all the extract dosages reversed the levels of blood luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, progesterone, prolactin and estrogen after it has significantly been altered by fluoxetine. The results indicated that the aqueous extract of Hybanthus enneaspermus improved the proceptive, receptive and orientational behavior of rats. The extract also enhanced reproductive hormone concentration by restoring sexual competence in sexually-impaired female rats. The findings of this study provide further evidence in favor of Hybanthus enneaspermus widespread usage in the management of female sexual dysfunction.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Datura arborea Linn is a sacred plant known for over 3000 years to have been used for magical and curative purposes. It was shown to have a central nervous system depressant effect. The active substances identified were tropane alkaloids: atropine, scopolamine, and hyosine. Therefore, we aimed to find out whether the ethanol extract of Datura arborea Linn has sedative and hypnotic activity. The extract was subjected to a thiopental sodium-induced sleep test and diazepam was used as a standard drug. The plant possesses sedative-hypnotic qualities, the findings indicate that doses of 35 mg/kg (2.70.24 min), 70 mg/kg (3.80.19 min), and 140 mg/kg (4.30.20 min) decreased the control's (9.2 min) latency to fall asleep. In comparison to the control, the length of sleep was increased by 23.46 minutes for 35 mg/kg (99.002.99 min), 70 mg/kg (132.605.53 min), and 140 mg/kg (118.606.04 min), respectively. The present study established the acute toxicity of Datura arborea Linn to be less than 600 mg/kg in mice. This study indicated that the ethanol extract of Datura arborea Linn has a sedative-hypnotic activity in the diazepam-induced sleep test. It is safe to suggest that the extract acts via either β-receptor by causing hyperpolarization or a decrease in spike activity in the cell, leading to relaxation, but these effects were not blocked by β-antagonist or α2-receptor to decrease acetylcholine release, leading to relaxation of the smooth muscle.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Paracetamol is one of the most found over the counter drugs worldwide. It is widely used as an analgesic and antipyretic drug. Many commercial types of paracetamol tablets are available under different brand names in the Libyan drug market. The present study was conducted to evaluate post-marketing quality parameters for three brands of paracetamol tablets marketed in Libya. All three brands were evaluated for weight variation, hardness, friability, disintegration time and uniformity of content following British pharmacopeia guidelines. The outcomes of this study showed all tested brands complied with the British pharmacopeia specifications for the weight variation test, friability test (0.05%-0.17%), and hardness test (171.3N-197.6 N). In addition, two brands passed the British pharmacopeia requirements for the disintegration time test, whereas one brand exceeded the allowed disintegration time by about five minutes. Furthermore, high performance liquid chromatography was used to determine paracetamol content. Although the average amount of paracetamol drug available in these brands is not very close to 100%, where one brand achieved the lowest value (438.1 mg), the loaded dose of paracetamol in selected tablets in the three brands was within the British pharmacopeia standard specifications for the uniformity content test. Therefore, it can be concluded that almost all the three tested brands of paracetamol tablets that are available in the Libyan drug market meet the British pharmacopeia specification for quality control analysis.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Furosemide is a widely potent diuretic drug used in the management of edema and hypertension. Various brands of furosemide are available in the Libyan market and should be subjected to different quality control tests to assess their pharmaceutical equivalence. This study aimed to assess and compare the quality and the pharmaceutical equivalence of some generic brands of furosemide 40 mg tablets marketed in Libya. The pharmaceutical quality of four brands of furosemide tablets was investigated using official and unofficial compendia standards including uniformity of weight, friability, thickness, hardness, drug content and dissolution rate. The results obtained showed acceptable external features as well as the thickness, diameter and uniformity of weight for all the furosemide tablets. The tested brands complied with the official specifications of friability, hardness and drug content. In conclusion, all four brands can be considered as bioequivalence and thus can be pharmaceutically substituted in clinical practice.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Pharmacists are expected to play major roles as members of diverse perioperative care teams besides implementing medication safety standards, pharmacist’s roles include optimizing drug therapy and other clinical interventions. Yet, developing general perioperative management as another crucial role operation room, pharmacists play and incorporating it into pharmaceutical education would be important. Enriching perioperative care provided by pharmacists can contribute toward improving the clinical competence of these professionals. Presently, there are no pharmacists in Zawia who participate in perioperative care. The objective of this study was to assess the pharmacist's knowledge of general anesthesia and drugs used to anesthetize patients who suffer from hypertension. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Zawia City, Tripoli in 2023. A self-designed questionnaire was distributed to 100 pharmacists. The study found that more than half of the pharmacists have humble knowledge about the drugs used in anesthesia, the findings indicated weakness in their information about drugs used to manage hypertension in surgery, and 36.0% know that sodium nitroprusside is used to control blood pressure during the operation. In conclusion, this study reported that some of the study's pharmacist participants had weak points that contributed to a high percentage of incorrect knowledge. These weak points may be attributable to poor educational preparation or a lack of training before the pharmacists began working in hospitals.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Numerous health and social relationship problems, namely an increased risk of contracting HIV, mortality, crime, unemployment and impaired interpersonal relationships, are related to drug dependence, with opioids at the helm. For this reason, opioid addiction is considered a major public health problem [1] and is characterized as a ‘chronic relapsing disease’ and is a major concern for public health, as are drug and alcohol addictions [1, 2]. In addition to social support and psychotherapy, treatment of opioid dependence relies on medication intake. The three main opioid-dependence treatment categories include opioid agonists, opioid antagonists, and non-opioid medications. Naltrexone hydrochloride (API), one of the most commonly used medications relies on an opioid antagonist. It reduces opioid cravings, it can be administered outside the hospital setting and cannot be abused [3]. However, during treatment several patients often forget to take a dose, doubling the next dose to compensate. In some cases, this finding in the therapeutic levels not being reached, while in other cases undesired (side) effects appear. For this reason, especially in the case of long-term treatments of numerous diseases, an extended dosing interval is recommended, so that the patient receives the drug, only once a day, instead of two or three times a day.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The need for natural medicine and nutrients from natural product sources cannot be overstressed. Plant parts like leaves, stem, root, seed, nut and flowers supply enormous minerals, phytochemicals and other bioactive constituents apart from the primary metabolites. Terminalia Catappa (T. catappa) is a combretaceous plant often found in tropical and subtropical regions. The plant has many uses as an ingredient of various drugs such as anti-oxidants, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diarrheal. Thus, the main objective of this study was to determine the proximate, mineral and physicochemical analysis of T. catappa seed nuts. The proximate composition was determined according to the previous standard methods and elemental analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry and Flame Photometer. Proximate composition revealed a moisture content of 02.34%, ash 03.89%, fibre content 08.50%, crude protein 29.66%, fat 21.98% and carbohydrate 33.63%. Elemental analysis of the plant have indicated the presence of iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper and chromium in the aqueous extract. Physicochemical parameters of the plant revealed a specific gravity of 0.9182, viscosity 33.62 mm2/s, refractive index 1.4642, acid value of 0.102 mg KOH/g, saponification value of 151.28 mg KOH/g, iodine value 47.19 g I2/100 g and peroxide value 8.93 meq/kg. In conclusion, the findings from this study confirmed that almond nut oil has a long shelf life which may explain its applications in pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical and personal care industries.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Crinum jagus, family- Amaryllidaceae, commonly called river lily is an important medicinal plant used in the treatment of cough. It is an anti-venom agent used among the rural people in south-western Nigeria. The research is aimed to investigate the phytochemical constituents and analgesic activity of Cinium jagus bulb in BALB/c mice. The bulb was extracted with methanol in a soxhlet extractor apparatus. Phytochemical screening was performed according to standard methods. Alkaloid fraction was obtained using separation by extraction and characterized by infra-red (I.R) analysis. Acute toxicity test was done before analgesic activity was determined in BALB/c albino mice using the hot plate model. The result indicated the presence of some bioactive constituents like alkaloids, terpenoids and saponin. I.R bands were observed at 1064.74 cm 1 (C-O) stretch of alcohol; 1415.80 cm-1 (C-H) bend of alkyl groups and 1639.55 cm-1 (N-H) stretch of amine among others. The extract significantly increased the mean latency time of mice on the hot plate when compared with control with 100 mg/kg at 120 minutes. This study indicates that the Crinum Jagus bulb possesses analgesic potential.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Lycium schweinfurthii is a shrub belonging to the Solanaceae family which widely grows in North Africa and Mediterranean regions. The plant leaves have traditionally been used for gastrointestinal diseases as peptic ulcer in Libya. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Lycium schweinfurthii extract on the central nervous system in mice including anticonvulsant, antidepressant and muscle relaxant activities. The methanolic extract was prepared by fractionation technique. Albino male mice weighing 22 ± 2.0 gm were used and equally divided into equal number and weight for each experiment (n = 6). The best effective pharmacologically dose of 400 mg/kg, i.p. of the methanolic extract was selected to explore the anticonvulsant activity for picrotoxin-induced convulsion in mice (5.0 mg/kg), antidepressant activity of forced swimming test of depression and muscle relaxant action by motor coordination test of hanging wire. Fluoxetine (10.0 mg/kg), imipramine (15.0 mg/kg) and diazepam (5.0 mg/kg) were used as reference compounds. Lycium schweinfurthii extract exhibited a significant prolonged delay in the onset time of induced convulsion and significant decrease in the frequency of convulsion as well as a significant decrease in the duration time of attacks. Pretreatment with flumazenil (2.0 mg/kg) was found to increase the frequency and duration of convulsions without profound change in the onset time produced by Lycium schweinfurthii. For antidepressant activity, the plant leave extract significantly decreased immobility time duration without a muscle relaxant effect. The results suggest that the methanolic extract of Lycium schweinfurthii leave has anticonvulsant and antidepressant-like activities without any muscle relaxant effect in mice. Thus, Lycium schweinfurthii may have a neuropharmacological potential use in human.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Transglutaminase 2 (TG2) is an inducible transamidating acyltransferase that catalyzes Ca2+-dependent protein modifications. TG2 enzyme disruption has been implicated in several different disease processes and disorders such as Huntington and Parkinson’s diseases, cancers such as breast, ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Coeliac disease (CD) is the one disease state that TG2 activity plays a crucial role. To date, a gluten-free diet is the only accepted form of therapy for CD. Because of the important role of TG2 enzyme in the initiation of CD, therefore, this study was aimed at the identification of TG2 inhibitors from natural sources, as a potential intervention in CD therapy. Competitive amine inhibitors are the most widely used TG2 inhibitors because they are commercially available, chemically stable and relatively non-toxic in living systems. The natural products chosen for this study were dietary flavonoids. Flavonoids were extracted from different food samples. The flavonoids food extracts were subjected to the TG2 activity assays to examine their effect on the enzyme activity. The assays were carried out under optimal conditions of pH, Ca2+ and with N, N-dimethylcasein (acyl-donor) or casein (acyl-acceptor) as acyl-donor substrates and biotin cadaverine (acyl-acceptor) or TVQQEL as (acyl-donor) substrates. TG activity was measured by two different microplate assays, Biotin-labeled cadaverine incorporation assay and Biotin-labeled peptide cross-linking assay. In the TG2 amine incorporation activity, all of food extracts display a significant inhibition effect towards the human recombinant transglutaminase2 (hrTG2) and guinea pig transglutaminase 2 (gplTG2) (20 - 50% of inhibition). While in the TG2 cross-linking activity, the majority of food extracts displayed an inhibition effect on the gplTG2 cross-linking activity (50 - 70% of inhibition) but only the strawberry and kale extracts showed an effect on hrTG2 activity (40 - 50% of inhibition). The inhibition of TG2 activity can be considered as a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of CD.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Self-medication of antibiotics is an irrational use of drugs, contributing to microbial resistance, increasing health care cost and higher mortality and morbidity. This study was aimed to assess self-medication with antibiotics without a medical prescription in the community of Libya. This is a cross-sectional study conducted from June to December, 2022 and the total number of participants was 200. The design of the study and sample size were modified according to the proficiency of pharmacists and the medical and non-medical population of Libya. The questionnaire was developed in English and Arabic language and was distributed through social media platforms. The questions were used after a thorough literature search and assessing the validity and reliability. The significant signs regarding reasons for the treatment by self-medication drugs of antibiotics, because of its various drugs of antibiotic by pharmacist (n = 80, 40.0%) and family (n = 90, 45.0%) compare with experience and physicians by used prescription was 13 (06.50%) and significant sings regarding by nasal congestion self-medication of various antibiotics (n = 100, 50.0%). This sign must be practiced based on a previous physician’s prescription. The antibiotics are often self-administered as patient feel that they will save money and time but this can lead to substantial adverse drug reaction, antibiotic resistance, treatment failure and drug-related toxicity. This study respondent's medical and non-medical public of Libya who should be relatively informed and educated about the risk of treatment by self-medication of antibiotics with the development of resistance.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

With a few years of teaching medical students and witnessing the status of medical education and health care delivery in Libya, for a decade or more, a reflection of what is happening in Libya, the country which has given respect and economic freedom to a teacher like me. The Republic of India, a South Asian country is the seventh largest nation by area, the second most populous country and the most populous democracy in the globe. One of the fundamental rights of the Indian constitution is the ‘Right to life’ which translates to “Right to Health”. India is a Federal country with 29 states and eight union territories [1]. Indian health care is taken care of by the States by organizing and delivering health care and the Central Government takes responsibility for international health treaties: medical education, prevention of food adulteration, quality control in drug manufacturing, national disease control and family planning. Indian health care under the public sector is provided free to people who are below the poverty line. Indian Public Health sector caters to 18.0% of total patient care and 44.0% of total in patient care. The total expenditure for health care is around 04.0% of the GDP and out-of-pocket expenses are around 69.0%. If it is calculated the cost of health care is around 1700 Indian rupees/capita/year [2]. It is true of Libya also. It has its national health a policy with free medical care and policy to cater to the needs of the Libyan people. With the civil unrest, and a transient locally elected government, Libya finds itself in very critical situation related to its economy and public services including public health. The hospitals built and their destruction because of the civil war lie in a very demanding conditions with poor supply chains and logistics to maintain the necessary demand and supply situation. The health care personnel physicians, nurses and public health workers are competent. They have to operate in a trying condition to save lives with limited healthcare facilities in the form of drug, medicine and medical equipment.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Pain according to WHO has been one of the greatest issues to plague man, in the bid to handle this issue of pain, man has sought to look for other means to reduce pain to its bare minimum. This study is aimed at investigating the analgesic activity of the methanolic extract of the African weaver ant using acetic acid-induced writhing, hot plate method, and formalin-induced pain models in Swiss mice. In the acetic acid test, the methanolic extract of Oecophylla longinoda (OL) was administered orally at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight while aspirin was administered at 100 mg/kg and tween 80 served as standards. In the hot plate and formalin models, the extract was administered orally at two doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg while pentazocine at 10 mg/kg and tween 80 at 10 mg/kg served as standards. The methanolic extract of OL exhibited significant analgesic activity in all the models, with none less than the standard significant difference (p < 0.05) by increasing the reaction time of the mice after treatment in comparison to the control. The 400 mg/kg extract in the acetic acid-induced writhing response has a percentage inhibition of 52.7%, which shows how well the extract inhibits pain in mice. The methanolic extract significantly reduced pain response in mice, with a p-value of 0.03, 0.02, and 0.001 in all the test models, respectively. OL increased the pain threshold over time and significantly reduced the writhing response that mice experience from acetic acid. Furthermore, pretreatment with OL significantly and dose-dependently decreased the early and late phases of formalin-induced pain in mice. Thus, these findings suggest that the methanolic extract of OL acts on central and peripheral pain pathways.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a complex and chronic illness requiring continuous medical care. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is commonly associated with obesity, hypertension, and a tendency to develop thrombosis, and an increase risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Diabesity is a term used to indicate the coexistence of obesity and DM. Diabesity increases as obesity is an emerging epidemic in modern societies, the co-incidence with DM is also rising, so a joint plan of anti-obesity and anti-hyperglycemia for the management approaches. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the impact of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) on body weight and glycemic response in obese Libyan patients with T2D at the National Diabetes Centre in Tripoli, between July 2013 and May 2022. This prospective study included obese adults with T2D who were newly prescribed GLP-1RA therapy for six months with dulaglutide once weekly or liraglutide once daily. The study included 170 diabetic patients who were started on GLP1-RA as add on therapy to their treatment, with a regular follow-up with dietitian and their physicians to adjust their glucose-lowering medications, then comparing the effect of these agents on body weight and the level of glycated hemoglobin before and after 24 weeks of treatment. Most of the patients (n = 99, 58.23%) were in the age period from 54 to 74 years old and 101 of whom were female subjects (59.4%), with a mean duration of DM equal to 8.8 ± 7.3 years. The patients were divided randomly into two groups, the first group included 110 patients who received liraglutide pens showed a significant reduction in HbA1c from 9.6% (± 1.54) to 7.4% (± 1.03) by p < 0.001 and a significant weight loss from 88.3 kg (± 10.68) to 80.8 kg (± 11.83) by p < 0.001. The reported adverse events were in 23 cases of minor hypoglycemia due to gastrointestinal upset. The other group included 60 patients for dulaglutide pens and showed significant decrease in HbA1c = 9.6% (± 1.54) to 7.1% (± 1.2) by p < 0.05 and a significant reduction of bodyweight from 88.3 kg (± 10.68) to 83.8 kg (± 16.3) by p < 0.05. The reported adverse events were mild transient gastrointestinal distress for the initial week of a start and then subside with regular intake. Whereas, 115 patients (67.6%) with HbA1c above 10.0% before starting therapy, no patient with HbA1c above 10.0% after six months of both GLP-RA agents therapy. Thus, the uses of GLP-RA as add-on therapy for obese patients with T2D significantly improved glycaemic control with less hypoglycaemia, accordingly, reduce insulin requirement for blood glucose control and loss in body weight. It can thus be concluded that GLP-1RA therapy is an effective treatment option when used in obese patients with DM.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Medicinal plants and herbal drugs have widely been used in several diseases which contain highly active pharmacological agents. Several previous studies have mounted about the hepatotoxicity of these remedies which ranges from mild enzyme alterations to liver failure in humans and animals. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity profile of the crude methanolic seed extract of Calliandra surinamensis on rat liver functions. An acute toxicity study was carried out using modified Lorke’s method and sub-chronic toxicity was done following the Organisation for Economic Cooperative and Development guidelines with testing chemicals 423 and 407 to assess the effect of the seed extract on liver function alongside histopathology assessment of the liver. The haematological indices revealed no significant change in red blood cells and other haematological parameters. The average organ weight of the tested rats showed no significant differences. The histopathological examinations of the rat liver revealed no observable toxic injury to the tissue after treatment with the seed extract across all concentrations. There were desirable morphological vasoactive changes of dilatation and active congestion in the organ across all the concentrations which were dose-dependent. There was induced activation of the sinusoidal kupffer cells, which signified a boost to the local immune system of the liver. The nucleoli in the hepatocyte nuclei were remarkably conspicuous which implied an increase in the production of ribonucleic acid that is deployed in protein synthesis.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Heavy metals and trace elements such as lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (Ar), nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), mercury (Mg), iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) are detected in various types of herbal cosmetics. Heavy metals and elements can accumulate at high concentrations causing serious risks to human health when consumed. In this study, the levels of potential heavy metals of Pb, Ar, Cd, and Ni were quantitatively determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Samples of Henna leaves, Henna paste, Khol stones and baby Talcum powder were collected randomly from different public markets of Tripoli city. The results were evaluated by using different international guidelines, US-FDA, EU regulation, German (BVL), World Health Organization (WHO) and Canadian Guidelines. Because of controversial global guidelines, the study urgent the ultimate need for setting up harmonized minimum levels of heavy metals in cosmetics that could be applicable worldwide. Generally, the presence of a higher concentration of some of the studied heavy metals was observed, and the effect of these heavy metals at higher levels will be more harmful to consumer health after prolonged usage. In conclusion, nationally, the need for developing and updating the national specification for cosmetics by the Libyan National Centre for Standardization and Metrology (LNCSM) to protect consumers from more catastrophic cosmetic hazards is urgently required.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Inhalation of a gas anesthetic produces rapid induction of anesthesia without the need for intravenous drugs. Although it is specifically useful for patients who are afraid of injections or if their intravenous access is difficult, single-breath induction may also allow patients to wake up more quickly than intravenous induction drugs. The object of this study is to compare isoflurane and sevoflurane during inhalation in Libyan patients undergoing surgery in terms of side effects like blood pressure and heart rate changes and complications. Seventy- five patients were recruited in this study from different hospitals in Benghazi City, Libya (January to March, 2022) including Aljalaa Hospital and Alatfal Hospital, and data including side effects and complications were collected through data collection. Surgeries that used isoflurane, or sevoflurane or both inhalation gases for anesthesia were included in our data. While the surgeries which did not use any of these inhalation gases were excluded from our data. When we compared the side effects of using isoflurane with sevoflurane according to the age group, we found that hypotension is the most occurring side effect companies to the use of isoflurane in our adult population (28.6%) and in pediatrics (14.3%) but there was a low incidence of other side effects related to sevoflurane administration. Regarding to side effects related to the use of sevoflurane according to the age groups, 16 adult Libyan patients experienced no side effects (61.5%) compared to 10 children (38.5%). It can be concluded that both isoflurane and sevoflurane are suitable for daycare anesthesia. Sevoflurane might be an ideal drug for single-breath inhaled induction of anesthesia due to it has fewer side effects and complications.

Mediterranean Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences