There is currently a great deal of research interest in utilizing plant compounds against human diseases, including hypertension. The present study investigated the effects of different extracts and fractions from leaves of Gynura procumbens Merr. on rat atrial contraction in vitro. Isolated left and right atria, mounted in a 20-ml organ bath, were allowed to equilibrate for 15 min before the application of the extracts or fractions. The extracts (petroleum-ether extract (PE) and methanol extract (ME)) and the fractions (chloroform fraction (CHL), ethyl-acetate fraction (EA), n-butanol fraction (NB) and water fraction (WA) of the methanol extract) were tested at three concentrations (0.25, 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ml), with a β-adrenergic agonist (isoprenaline) as a control. All data on contraction responses were log-transformed and analyzed. When exposed to the different extracts, both atria tended to exhibit greater contractive responses with the NB whereas cardiac contractions had a tendency to be reduced with most other extracts. For a given extract, the contraction responses were particularly greater at 0.5 mg/ml for the right atrium and at 1 mg/ml for the left atrium. Further analysis focusing on the NB fraction revealed that positive inotropism was greater in left atria exposed to highly-concentrated F2 and F3 sub-fractions. Taken together, our results suggest that NB extracts and fractions from the G. procumbens-leaf methanol extract have positive inotropic activities and, hence, can be considered as an alternative/traditional medicine against increased blood pressure in humans or can be used in strategies aimed at finding antihypertensive biomolecules from an accessible source.
The present study aims to explore the perceptions among pharmacy practitioners in Libya on the importance of social pharmacy education. A qualitative methodology was employed to conduct this study. Using a purposive sampling technique, a total of ten Libyan registered pharmacists were interviewed. Based on the content analysis of the interviews, two major themes emerged, namely the understanding of social pharmacy education and the need for incorporating social pharmacy courses into the pharmacy education curriculum. The majority of the respondents knew about the concept. Of those that had no prior knowledge of this term, half of them expressed interest in knowing more about it. There was a positive perception of introducing social pharmacy into the undergraduate curricula among the respondents, and they believed that it is necessary for future pharmacists to know about social pharmacy components. The findings from the pharmacy practitioners' evaluation suggest the need to incorporate social pharmacy courses into the curricula of all pharmacy schools in Libya.
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