Background The World Health Organization encourages governments to develop legal frameworks for the regulation of traditional medicines to ensure their safety, quality, and efficacy. There is very little published research on the availability of herbal medicine regulatory tools and the extent of compliance by manufacturers in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study assessed the current situation on traditional medicine regulatory frameworks and compliance of herbal medicinal products among people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi and Nigeria. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was done using a structured questionnaire and checklist to collect data from officers, premises, and herbal medicinal products. Twenty-three officers from the Medicines Regulatory Authorities and Ministries of Health from Malawi and Nigeria were interviewed. Thirty-one small-scale manufacturers and sixty-six herbal medicinal products from Malawi, and twenty-eight herbal medicinal products from Nigeria were evaluated. Results The Pharmacy and Medicines Regulatory Authority scored 7.7% in Malawi while the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control in Nigeria, scored 77.0% on the 13-item regulatory checklist. The Ministry of Health, Malawi scored 28.6% while Nigeria scored 71.4% on the 7-item checklist of regulatory requirements. Both countries had no regulations on traditional medicine practice, and traditional and complementary medicine had not been integrated into the health system. Most manufacturers performed poorly on personnel hygiene (58.6%) and were non-compliant with cleaning production equipment (69.0%), inadequate storage room (72.4%), and lack of documentation on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cleaning equipment and premises (93.1%). There was non-compliance on the list of names of active ingredients (45.5%, 93.0%, p < 0.001), list of quantities of active ingredients (12.1%, 53.6%, p < 0.001), list of side effects (9.1%, 57.1%, p < 0.001) and storage conditions (15.2%, 67.9%, p < 0.001) in Malawi and Nigeria, respectively. Conclusion Malawi lacked a well-established regulatory framework for the regulation of herbal medicines and with evidence of poor compliance with manufacturing and labeling requirements. This may have contributed to the production of more herbal medicinal products with questionable quality and safety putting the public at risk in Malawi than in Nigeria.
Noli juice is a healthy beverage that originated in tropical regions and is promoted globally.Research has con-firmed that Noli fruit has certain health benefits.Through retrospective studies,it has been found that Noli fruit juice can reduce DNA damage caused by smoking,lower blood lipids and homocysteine levels,and alleviate systemic inflam-matory reactions.Clinical studies have also shown that Noli juice can improve joint health,enhance physical endurance,increase immune activity,inhibit protein glycation,help control body mass,protect women's bone health,maintain nor-mal blood pressure,and improve gum health.In addition,Noli juice has strong antioxidant activity and can interact with the immune system and inflammatory response,which is the key to the health benefits of Noli juice.However,retro-spective studies also have limitations.The origin of Noli juice is single,all located in Tahiti,Polynesia.Differences in ge-ographical factors and processing methods can lead to differences in the chemical and nutritional composition of Noli juice.Therefore,further research is needed to determine whether other sources of Noli juice have the same toxicological and pharmacological characteristics.
The study of the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine is a major focus in the prevention and treatment of Osteoarthritis(OA),and Eucommia Ulmoides,as a representative Chinese medicine that"tonifies the liver and kidney and strengthens the tendons and bones",plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of OA.By reviewing the relevant literature at home and abroad,it was found that Eucommia can prevent and treat OA by protec-ting chondrocytes,inhibiting inflammatory response,reducing subchondral bone loss in the early stage of osteoarthritis,and improving obesity,but the specific mechanism of action has not been fully described.The study of the main active ingredients of Eucommia Ulmoides for the treatment of OA and gradually reveal the specific mechanism of action can provide new ideas and directions for the prevention and treatment of OA by Eucommia Ulmoides and the development of new drugs for the prevention and treatment of OA.
Pharmacy between the Oriental and other nations exchanges since ancient times.With Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty,the Silk Road was opened,and the trade exchanges became more frequent.More medicines were introduced into China which greatly enriched the variety of traditional Chinese medicine.Chinese Materia Medica records 8 980 medicinal substances,which is known as"a new Compendium of Materia Medica",based upon which,this paper comprehensively sorts out the ancient foreign medicines in China,explores their natural attributes,introduction periods,and transmission regions,etc.It can supplement and improve the relevant knowledge of ancient foreign medicines and provide more abundant documentary resources for the history of pharmaceutical exchan-ges between China and foreign countries.
Objective:To investigate the source and use characteristics of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix in the Qing dy-nasty court and the history of enduing it with properties and effects of traditional Chinese medicine,in order to provide a reference for modern health product development and resource conservation of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix.Meth-ods:Based on the medical cases in the Qing dynasty,such as Medical Records Integration of Palace in Qing Dynasty,The Compilation of Scattered Medical Cases in the Palace in the Late Qing Dynasty and Weng Tonghe's Diary,the information on the source,population,symptoms,frequency of use and dosage of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix in the Qing dynasty court was sorted out.Results:The introduction of Panacis Quinquefolii Radix into China is a multi-coun-try process.Panacis Quinquefolii Radix has a wide range of applications in the court,mainly applicable to the royal family,often used to treat the syndrome of stagnation of liver qi and the syndrome of upper hyperactivity of liver yang,late Qing Dynasty used frequently,the main usage is direct medicinal,used as a herbal tea substitute,used as a medici-nal ushers.Conclusion:Panacis Quinquefolii Radix gained favor with the ruling class as a foreign medicine and was quickly accepted and used by the court,where it was mostly used for symptoms related to the organs of the lung,spleen and kidney.Its nature,flavor and meridian tropism have been summarized,and it is a typical representative of conver-ting foreign medicine into traditional Chinese medicine.
