Heavy metal hazards of Nigerian herbal remedies

The uses of herbal products are not regulated in Nigeria and in many low-income countries and are freely available to everyone. The safety of these herbal medicines is poorly understood. This study characterizes the content of cadmium, copper, iron, nickel, selenium, zinc, lead and mercury in a random sample of Nigerian traditional products. Ready-to-use herbal products were purchased from the open market and digested using HNO3.The heavy metal content of the digested filtrate was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry Uni-cam Model 929. The result showed that 100% of the samples contained elevated amounts of heavy metals. These data alert us to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity from herbal products in Nigeria. The public health hazards from ingestion of herbal medicines should be identified and disclosed by in-depth risk assessment studies.

Some plasma and saliva pharmacokinetics parameters of rifampicin in the presence of pefloxacin

The effect of pefloxacin on the pharmacokinetics parameters of rifampicin in humans was investigated using plasma and saliva concentrations. Five healthy volunteers (4 male and 1 female), ages 20-35 years, each received 600 mg rifampicin alone, and after a 1-week drug washout period, 600 mg rifampicin plus 500 mg pefloxacin was administered with 350 mL of water. Plasma and saliva concentrations of rifampicin were measured at 7 different time intervals and different pharmacokinetics parameters calculated. Pefloxacin coadministered with rifampicin reduced plasma and saliva elimination half-life, peak plasma concentration, area under the concentration time curve, volume of distribution, minimum absorption time, absorption rate constant, and absorption half-life showed a significant increase (P < 0.05). Time to reach peak plasma concentration was not affected with or without pefloxacin. Pefloxacin increases bioavailability of rifampicin and hence extends its detection in the body as demonstrated by rifampicin being estimated at 24 hours when coadministered with pefloxacin, whereas at 24 hours, it was completely absent when administered alone.

Effects of Solanum melongena (garden egg) on some visual functions of visually active Igbos of Nigeria

Solanum melongena LINN (garden egg) or bitter tomato is an economic flowering plant belonging to the family Solanaceae and widely distributed throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Members are mostly herbaceous plants, and the fruit is berry and the seeds have large endosperm and are grown mainly for food and medicinal purposes. The effects of bolus consumption of 10 g of S. melongena were undertaken on visually active male volunteers so as to determine its ocular complications. Results showed that the pupil size was reduced (23%), NPC was decreased (9%) and the AA was increased (22%) and the intraocular pressure dropped by 25% while there was no effect on VA, and the habitual phoria. The miotic effect lowered the intraocular pressure appreciably and the reduced NPC which was still within normal range did not produce any vision discomfort. The increased AA and convergence excess positively correlated provide an efficient visual mechanism. It is suggested that S. melongena would be of benefit to patients suffering from raised intraocular pressure (glaucoma) and convergence insufficiency.