Informatics Publishing Limited

Arshia Shariff , P. K. Manna , K. L. K. Paranjothy , Mohammed Asad

Abstract

Andrographis paniculata, an established hepatoprotectant is widely used in many polyherbal formulations. The main problem with the drug is its bitterness, which causes gastric discomfort, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting on regurgitation and in turn leads to patient non-compliance. The aim of the present study was to mask the bitterness of Andrographis paniculata to encourage its use as a monoherbal hepatoprotectant preparation. The extract of Andrographis paniculata (30%w/w of andrographolide) was entrapped into micropellets of calcium alginate for bitter taste masking and the so formed pellets were evaluated for hepatoprotectant activity in paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats. The micropellets containing alcoholic extract of Andrographis paniculata equivalent to 22.5mg/kg body weight of the alcoholic extract of Andrographis paniculata were given orally to animals for a period of 9 days. The activity observed was compared with alcoholic extract of Andrographis paniculata. The bitterless alginate micropellets loaded with alcoholic extract of Andrographis paniculata were found to successfully inhibit the paracetamol induced hepatotoxiciy as indicated by a decrease in AST, ALT, ALP and liver weight. The effect observed was supported by histopathological studies. It was concluded that micropellets prepared by inotropic gelation of calcium alignate can be used to mask the bitterness of Andrographis paniculata without affecting its activity.

Keywords

Andrographis paniculata, Bitter Taste Masking, Ionotropic Gelation, Micropellets, Hepatoprotective, Paracetamol

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Mohammed Asad ¹

Affiliations
1 College of Applied Medical Sciences, Shaqra University, Shaqra, SA

Abstract

A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire following snowball sampling method was conducted in Riyadh city and surrounding towns to detect insufficient knowledge contributing to the medication errors. The study was carried out in primary healthcare centres, general hospital and specialist hospitals. The participants included nurses of different nationalities, sex, education level, experience and ranks. Comparison was made between these groups to determine the highest and least knowledgeable groups to target them for continuing education. The questionnaire had four section. The first section of questionnaire recorded personal information of the nurses while the second, third and fourth sections contained eight statements each. The second section contained questions about basic pharmacology, the third section about pharmaceutical calculation and dosages while the fourth section had questions about commonly used drugs. All these statements were provided with true/false option for the participant to identify the correct statements. The results indicate that many of the participating nurses lack sufficient knowledge about pharmacology and pharmaceutical calculations. The weakest among the group were male nurses, nurses of Arab origin, nurses holding diploma and surprisingly, the head nurses. To conclude, the knowledge level of many nurses working in Riyadh province is poor. Continuing education programs should be initiated to educate nurses about pharmacology and pharmaceutical calculations.

Keywords

Pharmacology, Medication Errors, Pharmaceutical Calculations, Nurses' Knowledge, Drugs.

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