In vivo anti-malarial activity of hydroalcoholic extracts from Asparagus africanus Lam. in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei

Background: Malaria is a major public health problem in the world in general and developing countries in particular, causing an estimated 1-2 million deaths per year, an annual incidence of 300-500 million clinical cases and more than 2 billion people are at risk of infection from it. But it is also becoming more difficult to treat malaria due to the increasing drug resistance. Therefore, the need for alternative drugs is acute. Objective: The This study aims at investigating the in vivo antiplasmodial activity of extracts of the roots and area parts from traditionally used medicinal plant, named Asparagus africanus (Liliaceae). Methods: A rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei, which was maintained at the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) laboratory, was inoculated into Swiss albino mice. The mice were infected with 1x107 parasites intraperitoneally. The extracts were administered by an intra gastric tube daily for four days starting from the day of parasite inoculation. The control groups received the same amount of solvent (vehicle) used to suspend each dose of the herbal drug. Chloroquine was used as a standard drug, and was administered through the same route. Results: Extracts from the roots and aerial parts of A.africanus were observed to inhibit Plasmodium berghei parasitaemia in the Swiss albino mice by 46.1% and 40.7% respectively. Conclusion: The study could partly confirm the claim in Ethiopian traditional medicine that the plant has therapeutic values in human malaria. There is, thus, the need to initiate further in-depth investigation by using different experimental models. The Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 20 (2) 2006: 112-11

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

In Vitro anthelmintic activity of crude bark extracts of Albizia gummifera on Haemonchus contortus

No Abstract. BAHPA Vol. 54 (3) 2006: pp. 168-17

Short Communication: Comparative Quality Evaluation of Some Brands of Paracetamol Tablets, Suppositories and Syrups

The present study assesses the quality and the physicochemical properties of paracetamol dosage forms (tablet, suppository and syrup samples) from different drug outlets in Addis Ababa. Identity, weight uniformity, disintegration and dissolution times, assay for active ingredient content and pH test (for syrup) were performed. Hardness and drug release (t50% and t90%) of the different brands of paracetamol tablets were also evaluated and compared. The study showed that none of the tablet samples did meet the USP specification for assay of active ingredient content. One of the syrup samples (Efferalgan®) tested, contained less than the specified amount of the active principle. Keywords: quality evaluation, physicochemical properties, paracetamol dosage forms, drug outlets, Addis AbabaEthiopian Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 26 (1) 2008: pp. 59-6

Comparative In Vitro Quality Evaluation of Ciprofloxacin Tablets from Drug Retail Outlets in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ciprofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone derivative having a broader spectrum of antibacterial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive aerobic and anaerobic organisms. It is the drug of choice for treating urinary tract infections and enteric typhoid fever. Quality assurance and evaluation of antibiotics has paramount importance to monitor the distribution of counterfeit and substandard medicines in the drug retail outlets and ensure the desired therapeutic efficacy on susceptible microorganisms. This investigation was carried out to assess the quality of eight brands of ciprofloxacin 500 mg tablets marketed by different drug retail outlets in Addis Ababa. At the time of this sampling, most of the tablets had a shelf-life of at least two years and they were in their original packages. Identity, weight uniformity, disintegration and dissolution tests as well as assay for the content of active ingredients were performed using the methods described in the British Pharmacopoeia. Hardness and equivalence of drug release at t50% and t90% of the different brands of ciprofloxacin tablets were also evaluated and compared. All the samples passed the identity, disintegration, and dissolution tests. Among the eight brands, ciprokin® failed the weight uniformity test. Eight of the ciprofloxacin brands examined passed the assay for content of active ingredient and also assured the minimum requirement for the test in crushing strength of the tablets. The eight brands were found to be bio-inequivalent for their drug release compared at t50% and t90% indicating significant difference in the in vitro drug release. Keywords: ciprofloxacin tablets, comparative study, In Vitro quality evaluation, physicochemical Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Journal Vol. 25 (1) 2007: pp. 1-

Qualitative laboratory analysis for teh detaction of conventional drugs in herbal preparations supplied by healers in major towns of Ethiopia

No Abstract. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development Vol. 22 (1) 2008: pp. 55-6

PAIN MANAGEMENT IN MICE USING THE AQUEOUS AND ETHANOL EXTRACTS OF FOUR MEDICINAL PLANTS

ABSTRACTBackground: There are many traditionally used analgesic plants in Ethiopia. They, however,have not been subject to scientific investigation for their efficacy and safety.Objective: To evaluate both prophylactic and relieving effects of aqueous and ethanolextracts of four traditionally used medicinal plants in Ethiopia.Design: An experimental design in which five group of albino mice weighing 30-35 gramsrepresenting positive and negative control, and extract treated groups respectively. Theextracts, standard drugs and normal saline were administered into GIT by gavage to evaluatethe analgesic effect.Setting: Department of Drug Research at Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Instituteand Department of Pharmacology at Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa university.Methods: Analgesic effects of water and ethanol extracts of four plants were evaluatedagainst distilled water and standard analgesics (morphine and acetylsalicylic acid) withacetic acid induced writhing tests in mice. The four plants used for this screening wereOcimum sauve, Ocimum lamiifolium, Lippia adoensis and Ajuga remota.Results: All extracts of the four plant materials were observed to possess both inhibiting andtreatment activities against acetic acid induced pain. Dose related analgesic effect was alsoobserved with all extracts of all plants with different potencies. Ethanol extracts of all the fourplant materials were more potent than their water extracts at all dose levels except O. sauve,and L. adoensis whose water extracts seem to be a bit more potent at low dose. The analgesicpotencies of both extracts of all the four plants were shown to be less than those of thestandard analgesics. Of all the extracts, the ethanol extract of O. lamiifolium was found to bethe most potent, while its water extract was the least. Acetic acid induced writhing wasrelieved with medium dose of both extracts in most cases and with low dose in few. Hundredpercent relief was achieved with both standard analgesics at a very low dose.Conclusion: The present study show that all the extracts of all the plant materials have gotboth inhibiting and relieving effects of pain