Antimicrobial Resistance Profile of Different Clinical Isolates against Third-Generation Cephalosporins.

BACKGROUND: Drug resistant microorganisms lead to an increase in morbidity and mortality as they boost the risk of inappropriate therapy. Hence, data on antimicrobial resistance help define the best possible treatment for individual patients. Therefore, this study aimed to screen the antimicrobial resistant profile of 3rd generation cephalosporin drugs in Jimma University Specialized Teaching Hospital. METHODS: A hospital based prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Jimma University Specialized Hospital (JUSH) from April to August 2016. The clinical samples such as wound swab, urine, sputum, and stool were collected from hospitalized patients. Then, bacterial species were isolated and identified as per the standard microbiological methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out using various antimicrobial discs by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. RESULTS: Totally, 248 bacterial isolates were obtained from 154 (62.1%) male and 94 (37.9%) female patients. Escherichia coli (25.4%) and Staphylococcus aureus (19.0 %) were the predominant organisms isolated from specimens. About 140 (56.5%) and 149 (60.1%) of the total bacterial isolates were found to be resistant to ceftriaxone and ceftazidime, respectively. The majority of Escherichia coli isolates 46 (73%) were resistant to ceftriaxone and 41 (65%) of them were resistant to ceftazidime. Staphylococcus aureus, which accounted 19% of the total bacterial isolates, showed 23.4% and 34% resistance to ceftriaxone and ceftazidime, respectively. Among the bacterial strains revealing resistant to ceftriazone and ceftazidime, about 109 (44%) and 108 (43.5%) of them were resistant to two, three, or four other drugs, respectively. CONCLUSION: Bacterial resistance towards third-generation cephalosporin (ceftriaxone and ceftazidime) is escalating as more than half of the isolated strains demonstrated resistance to these drugs. Moreover, these strains also revealed multidrug resistance mainly against clinically used drugs which could render therapy unsuccessful. Therefore, in clinical use appropriate medications should be selected based on the data obtained from antimicrobial susceptibility tests.

Ethnomedicine Claim Directed in Silico Prediction of Anticancer Activity.

BACKGROUND: The merits of ethnomedicine-led approach to identify and prioritize anticancer medicinal plants have been challenged as cancer is more likely to be poorly understood in traditional medicine practices. Nonetheless, it is also believed that useful data can be generated by combining ethnobotanical findings with available scientific studies. Thus, this study combined an ethnobtanical study with ligand based in silico screening to identify relevant medical plants and predict their anticancer potential based on their phytoconstiutents reported in scientific literatures. METHODS: First, relevant medicinal plants were identified through an ethnobotanical survey. A list of phytochemicals was prepared based on literature review of articles which reported on the natural products of identified medicinal plants. Then, their phytochemicals were subjected to in silico evaluation, which included a hybrid score similarity measure, rule of five, Ghose-Viswanadhan-Wendoloski (GVW)-indices and structural features criteria, to predict their anticancer activity and drugability. RESULTS: A total of 18 medicinal plants and 265 phytoconstituents were identified. The natural product pool constituted 109(41.13%) terpenoids, 67(25.28%) phenolics, 29(10.94%) simple and functionalized hydrocarbons, 26(9.81%) alkaloids, 25(9.43%) glycosides and 9(3.40%) compounds belonging to different phytochemical classes. The similarity measure using CDRUG identified 34(12.73%) phytochemicals with high (p-Value < 0.05) and 35(13.21%) with moderate possibility (p-Value < 0.1) of anticancer activity. In fact, three of the predicted compounds had the same structure with known anticancer compounds (HSCORE=1). The 80% GVW-indices based antineoplastic drugabilityranges were all mate by 25 of the predicted compounds. Predicted compounds were also shown to have ring structures and functional groups deemed important for anticancer activity. CONCLUSIONS: Given the findings, there is a promising anticancer activity by the traditionally used medicinal plants and a potential for the predicted phytochemicals to be pursued as possible hits or me-too drugs.

In Vivo Antimalarial Activity of the Solvent Fractions of Fruit Rind and Root of Carica papaya Linn (Caricaceae) against Plasmodium berghei in Mice.

BACKGROUND: Currently, antimalarial drug resistance poses a serious challenge. This stresses the need for newer antimalarial compounds. Carica papaya is used traditionally and showed in vitro antimalarial activity. This study attempted to evaluate in vivo antimalarial activity of C. papaya in mice. METHODS: In vivo antimalarial activity of solvent fractions of the plant was carried out against early P. berghei infection in mice. Parasitemia, temperature, PCV, and body weight of mice were recorded. Windows SPSS version 16 (one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test) was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The pet ether and chloroform fractions of C. papaya fruit rind and root produced a significant (p < 0.001) chemosuppressive effect. A maximum parasite suppression of 61.78% was produced by pet ether fraction of C. papaya fruit rind in the highest dose (400 mg/kg/day). Only 400 mg/kg/day dose of chloroform fraction of C. papaya root exhibited a parasite suppression effect (48.11%). But, methanol fraction of the plant parts produced less chemosuppressive effect. CONCLUSION: Pet ether fraction of C. papaya fruit rind had the highest antimalarial activity and could be a potential source of lead compound. Further study should be done to show the chemical and metabolomic profile of active ingredients.

Nonadherence and factors affecting adherence of diabetic patients to anti-diabetic medication in Assela General Hospital, Oromia Region, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a major global health problem covering approximately 347 million persons worldwide. Glycemic control has a main role in its management which mainly depends upon patient adherence to the treatment plan. Accurate assessment of medication adherence is necessary for effective management of diabetes. OBJECTIVE: To assess nonadherence and factors affecting adherence of diabetic patients to anti-diabetic medication in Assela General Hospital (AGH), Oromia Region, Ethiopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on patients seeking anti-diabetic drug treatment and follow-up at AGH using structured questionnaire and reviewing the patient record card using check list from January 24, 2014 to February 7, 2014. Descriptive analysis was used to describe the percentages and number of distributions of the variables in the study; and association was identified for categorical data. P ≤ 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULT: Of all respondents, 149 (52.3%) and 136 (47.7%) were female and male, respectively. The majority of the study participants 189 (66.3%) were in the age group of 30-60 years. Two-hundred nineteen (76.8%) of respondents were married currently. The majority, 237 (83.2%) of respondents did not have blood glucose self-monitoring equipment (glucometer). A total of 196 (68.8%) respondents were adhered to anti-diabetic medication. There was a significant association between adherence to the medication and side effect, level of education, monthly income and presence of glucometer at home (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The participants in the area of study were moderately adherent to their anti-diabetic medications with nonadherence rate of 31.2%. Different factors of medication nonadherence were identified such as side effect and complexity of regimen, failure to remember, and sociodemographic factors such as educational level and monthly income.

Evaluation of wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity of the rhizomes of Rumex abyssinicus J. (Polygonaceae) in mice.

BACKGROUND: Rumex abyssinicus Jacq (Polygonaceae) is widely used in Ethiopia for treatment of wound and other diseases. Although reports are available in the literature on some of the claimed activities, nothing has so far been reported about the wound healing activity of R. abyssinicus. Thus, this work was initiated to investigate the wound healing and anti-inflammatory activities of 80% methanol extract of the rhizomes of R. abyssinicus in mice. METHODS: Following extraction of the rhizomes of the plant with 80% methanol, the extract was formulated as ointment (5% & 10% w/w) with simple ointment base B.P. The ointment was then evaluated for wound healing activity using excision and incision wound models. Parameters, including wound contraction, epithelization time and hydroxyproline content were determined using the excision model, whereas tensile strength was measured from the incision model. In parallel, anti-inflammatory activity of the rhizome was evaluated with carrageenan induced hind paw edema model by dissolving the 80% methanol extract in 1% carboxyl methyl cellulose and administering orally in various doses (250, 500 and 750 mg/kg). RESULTS: Wound treated with 5% and 10% (w/w) hydroalcoholic extract ointment exhibited significant wound healing activity in both models, as evidenced by increased wound contraction, shorter epithelization time, higher tissue breaking strength and increased hydroxyproline content. The hydroalcoholic extract also produced dose-related significant reduction (p < 0.05-0.001) of inflammation. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrated that the hydroalcoholic extract of the rhizomes of R. abyssinicus facilitated wound healing at least in part via its anti-inflammatory activity, supporting its traditional claim as a wound healing agent.

Use of herbal medicine among pregnant women on antenatal care at nekemte hospital, Western ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Investigations across the world confirm dramatic increment in the use of complementary and alternative medicine in pregnant women. The most important aspect is lack of awareness of pregnant women about potential effects of using traditional medicine on fetus; some herbal products may be teratogenic in human and animal models. In this area, so far, no research has been conducted in Ethiopia to assess traditional medicine use in pregnant women. OBJECTIVES: Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and use of herbal drugs among pregnant women attending Nekemte Hospital to provide baseline information for future studies. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted by quantitative and qualitative approaches to identify the prevalence of using herbal medicines among pregnant women. About 50.4% of study participants used herbal drugs during their pregnancy. The proportion of herbal drug usage was gradually decreased along with the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. The most and least commonly used herbs were ginger (44.36%) and tenaadam (9.15 %), respectively. The common indications of herbal remedies use during pregnancy were nausea (23.90%) and morning sickness (21.05%). RESULTS: The result of the present study confirmed wide use of herbal drugs use during pregnancy that need to report the safety concerns of these drugs during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: To achieve the requirements of pregnant women, it is vital for health care workers to be familiar with the effect of herbal medicine in pregnancy.