Background. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is rising worldwide and is more in the developing countries which unfortunately are already suffering from communicable diseases. The aim of this study was to assess adherence and associated factors towards antidiabetic medication among type II diabetic patients in University of Gondar Hospital, Diabetic Clinic, Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted. Systematic sampling technique was used. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) scores were used for labeling patients as adherent or nonadherent. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. To see the association of variables logistic regression with OR and 95% CI was done. Results. A total of 288 study participants were interviewed with response rate of 100%. The level of adherence was found to be 85.1%. Factors found to be significantly associated with antidiabetic medication adherence were level of education (AOR = 14.27, 95% CI = 3.0, 67.82), duration of diabetes (AOR = 6.10, 95% CI = 2.03, 18.34), and knowledge about DM and its medications (AOR = 28.05, 95% CI = 8.96, 87.8). Conclusions and Recommendations. Large proportion of respondents in this study were found to be adherent to their antidiabetic medications. Level of education, duration of diabetes, and knowledge about DM and its medication were significantly associated with antidiabetic medication adherence of patients. Health education including adherence counseling to create awareness towards DM and its medications is mandatory.

Osyris quadripartita (OQ) Salzm. ex Decne. has been used to treat peptic ulcer disease in Ethiopian folk medicine, but its efficacy has not been validated. The present study was therefore carried out to evaluate the anti-ulcer activity of 80% methanol leaf extract of OQ in rats. The effect of OQ extract on gastric ulcer in rats in pylorus ligation-induced and ethanol-induced models was studied using single dosing (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) and repeated dosing (200 mg/kg for 10 and 20 days) approaches. Ranitidine (50 mg/kg) and sucralfate (100 mg/kg) were used as the standard drugs. Depending on the model, outcome measures were volume and pH of gastric fluid, total acidity, ulcer score, percent inhibition of ulcer score, ulcer index as well as percent inhibition of ulcer index. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s post hoc test, and P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. OQ significantly (P<0.001) reduced gastric ulcer index by 55.82% and 62.11%, respectively, in pylorus ligation-induced and ethanol-induced ulcer models at the 400 mg/kg dose, which is comparable to the standard drugs. Ten and 20 days pre-treatment with OQ200 exhibited significant (P<0.001) ulcer inhibition by 66.48% and 68.36% (pylorus ligation-induced model) as well as 71.48% and 85.35% (ethanol-induced model), respectively. OQ possesses both dose-dependent and time-dependent anti-ulcer effect in the two models. The oral median lethal dose (LD50) is estimated to be higher than 2000 mg/kg for the crude hydroalcoholic extract, and secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, tannins, and saponins were present. The findings of this study confirmed that OQ has anti-ulcer pharmacologic activity due to one or more of the secondary metabolites present in it. Therefore, this study validates its anti-ulcer use in Ethiopian folk medicine. Further investigations on isolation of specific phytochemicals and elucidating mechanisms of action are needed.