Although Bangladesh has made substantial progress in drug manufacturing since the introduction of its National Drug Policy (NDP) in 1982, irrational use of drugs, inappropriate prescribing, inadequate access to essential drugs and unjustified self medication are a few of a range of problems that are affecting the total health care system seriously. Taking this in view, a survey project has been designed to conduct nationwide to explore the pattern of antibiotics use at the primary health care level in Bangladesh using carefully constructed questionnaires containing questions covering both antibiotic prescription habit of the physicians and patients’ response to antibiotic use. In the first phase of this effort, 20 Upazila Health Complexes and the Union Health Centres thereunder each of Dhaka and Chittagong division were randomly surveyed. From physician survey it was evident that 55.57% of the doctors prescribe antibiotics in suspected infection while only 33.46% of them prescribe antibiotics in confirmed cases. 40.22% of doctors prescribe antibiotics in cold and fever before any diagnostic test. Moreover, 37.31% of doctors prescribe antibiotics for pleasing the patients whereas 62.44% denied such undue influence. Doctors seldom receive feedback of completion of course of antibiotic therapy by patients. Cephalosporin was found to be the most (26.9%) preferred antibiotic in case of empirical therapy. On the other hand, it was evident from patient survey that cold, fever and acute respiratory infection (ARI) were prevalent (39.78%) causes that brought the patients to physician. 60.1 % of the patients reported that they get essential antibiotics from hospital free of cost while 24.5% of them complained that they do not get antibiotics from hospital. 34.76% of the patients reported that they complete the course of antibiotic therapy by buying antibiotics from the market whereas 56.14% of them do not buy the full course and stop taking medicine (53.46%) as soon as symptoms subside. The results of the present survey indicate that antibiotics are widely and inappropriately used without following standard guidelines or based on any rationality. This is an alarming situation, which should be properly taken care of by the relevant authority to save the people from growing antibiotic resistance. Key words: Bangladesh; Rational use; Antibiotics; Primary health care. DOI: 10.3329/sjps.v2i1.5809Stamford Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol.2(1) 2009: 1-7
The hydroethanolic extract of Anthocephalus cadamba displayed remarkable antioxidative potential in the 1,1-diphenyl-2picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), the hydrogen peroxide, the nitric oxide scavenging, the reducing power, the total antioxidant capacity, the lipid peroxidation inhibition (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances production), and the RBC membrane stabilization assays. While in the DPPH assay the IC 50 value of the extract was 146.5 μg/mL, it was 24.8 μg/mL in the nitric oxide scavenging assay.
In the present study, the antioxidant and analgesic potential of the 80% methanol extract of the leaves of Curcuma alismatifolia Gangnep was evaluated. The extract was investigated for its antioxidant activity using lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant capacity and reducing power assays. The extract showed significant antioxidant activities in lipid peroxidation assay compared to the standard antioxidant in a dose dependent manner. In lipid peroxidation assay, the IC50 value was found to be 122.43 g/mL while the IC50 value for the reference ascorbic acid was 147.87 g/ml. Moreover, Curcuma alismatifolia extract showed strong total antioxidant capacity and good reducing power. The analgesic activity was evaluated for its central and peripheral pharmacological actions using tail immersion method and acetic acid-induced writhing test in mice respectively. The extract, at the dose of 250 and 500 mg/kg, produced a significant (p < 0.05-0.001) increase in pain threshold in tail immersion methods in a dose dependent manner. In acetic acid-induced writhing test the extract, at a dose of 500 mg/kg, showed a maximum of 60.5% inhibition (p <0.001) of writhing reaction compared to the reference drug diclofenac-sodium (75.0%). All experimental results suggest the use of this plant for the treatment of pain and inflammatory disorder.
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