Objective. The present study is aimed at evaluating the side effects of antidepressant drugs, medication adherence (MA), and associated factors among patients diagnosed with depression at a psychiatric hospital in western Nepal. Methods. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 174 patients visiting the outpatient clinic of a psychiatric hospital. The antidepressant side effect checklist (ASEC) was used to classify the reported antidepressant drug side effects into mild, moderate, and severe types. The Naranjo adverse drug reaction (ADR) probability scale was employed to assess the ADRs, and the Morisky Green Levine Adherence (MGLA) score was employed to determine the rate of medication adherence. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used, and a value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant in the multivariate analysis. Results. The patients were mostly female (55.74%), with a median (IQR) age of 32 (20) years. Approximately 74.13% of the patients experienced antidepressant side effects, where insomnia (17.05%) and anxiety (17.05%) were the most common. More than half of the patients (52.29%) had a low level of adherence. Females were 1.01 times more likely to be nonadherent to their antidepressant medications compared to males, adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.001 (0.31-1.63). Similarly, illiterate patients tended to be more nonadherent compared to literates, AOR: 1.342 (0. 93-2.82), and unemployed individuals were 1.5 times more likely to be nonadherent to their medications compared to employed individuals, AOR: 1.46 (1.16-4.13). Likewise, patients with severe side effects were more prone to develop nonadherence than those with moderate side effects, AOR: 1.173 (0.42-3.25). A significant association was found between the Naranjo score and medication adherence. Conclusions. This study suggests that antidepressant drug side effects were more prevalent and medication adherence was extremely poor among depressive patients in psychiatric hospitals. Factors such as gender, occupation, education, side effects, and ADRs attributed to poor medication adherence in patients.

To find out the effect of ethanol extract of Dactyloctenium aegyptium (D. aegyptium) on the fertility of male albino rats. Experimental animals were divided in four groups of six each. Group first received normal saline and served as control. The second, third and fourth groups of animals were administered with ethanolic extract of Dactyloctenium aegyptium (D. aegyptium) extract at a dose of 200, 400, and 600 mg/kg body weight respectively for a period of 30 days. A non significant increase in the bodyweight and a significant decrease in weight of testes, accessory sex organs, and reduction in sperm count, increase motility and abnormality were observed. Some serum biochemical parameters showed significant variations and were as the serum hormonal levels are significantly decreased. The decreased levels of sperm count, weight of reproductive organs, serum hormonal levels and number of implantations in female rats reveals the antifertility activity of Dactyloctenium aegyptium and it was with dose dependent manner.

Background: Several diseases co-exist with diabetes such as hypertension, and dyslipidemia, leading to cases of non-adherence, several drug interactions, and an increased risk of adverse drug reactions among patients, which are often termed as drug-related problems (DRPs). The role of pharmacists in high-income countries is well-defined in identifying DRPs among type 2 diabetes patients. However, these roles still need to be explored within low- and middle-income countries. The study aimed to identify DRPs in Type 2 diabetic patients. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Sunwal Municipality, Lumbini Province, Nepal from April to November 2021 where a stratified random sampling technique was employed to collect the data. The study included patients aged ≥ 18 years of either gender with type 2 diabetes who were prescribed at least one anti-diabetic medication. Patients were visited at their homes once identified through the community pharmacies, and a prescription review was conducted to identify the DRPs by using the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) V8.02 tool and pertinent guidelines. Results: Among 182 patients, 97 (53.3%) had DRPs. Most of the patients were 50–60 years (n = 46; 25.3%), with a mean ± SD age of 55.43±14.46, as most were female (n = 94; 51.6%). Biguanides and sulfonylureas were the common classes of drugs prescribed. The major class of drug associated with DRPs were biguanides (n = 85; 49.7%), followed by sulfonylureas (n = 42; 24.6%). Metformin was the major drug associated with DRPs (n = 85; 49.4%). The major type of DRP identified was treatment effectiveness (n = 82; 79.61%), while patients not adhering to drug therapy (n = 97; 71.85%) was the leading cause of DRPs. DRPs were significantly associated with the duration of diabetes (p = .007) and the number of fruit servings (p = .007). Conclusion: The majority of the patients were found to have DRPs. The visiting patients at home by the pharmacists helped in identifying the DRPs and associated factors among type 2 diabetes patients, which may aid in the prevention and management of the disease.

Having an anti-diabetic activity, Aloe Vera (Aloebarbadensis) has been used for medicinal purposes in several cultures for millennia. It has also been proved that aloe vera is having protective activity in nephrotoxic rats.The objective of the pres­ent study was to evaluate the effect of Aloe vera leaves extract on diabetic nephropathy in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat. Diabetes was induced by Streptozotocin(60 mg/kg-i.p.). Four weeks later rats were randomly selected and divided into 5 groups (n=6). Group I: normal control. Group II: diabetic nephropathy (DN) control. Group III: DN+AVE (250 mg/ kg). Group IV: DN+AVE (500 mg/kg). Group V: DN+AMG (1 mg/1ml in drinking water). The treatment was given for 8 weeks. Various parameters like physiological, antidiabetic, renal function, antioxidants and histopathology were measured. Administration of aloe vera extract showed significant decrease in body weight, food and water intake, kidney weight, blood glucose level, serum creatinine, BUN, protein in urine, serum uric acid and lipid peroxidation. It also significantly increases the plasma insulin level, liver glycogen content, urine volume, GFR, SOD, catalase, Reduced glutathione. Histopathologi­cal studies confirmed that administration of AVE prevented kidney damage, which provided structural support for the renal shielding effect. The significant effect of aloe vera extract on diabetic nephropathy could be due to the inherent antihy­perglycemic, antioxidant, improvement of renal function parameters. In the near future AVE could constitute a lead to the discovery of a novel drug for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.

This review article represents the collection and discussion of various analytical methods available in the literature for the determination of allopurinol (ALLP) in pharmaceutical and biological samples consisting of HPLC, UV-visible method, near-IR spectroscopy, spectrofluorometry, capillary electrophoresis, polarography, voltammetry, and hyphenated techniques such as LC-MS, LC-MS/MS, UPLC-MS/MS, and GC-MS. The anticipated review provides details about the comparative utilization of various analytical techniques for the determination of ALLP. The present review article can be effectively explored to conduct future analytical investigation for the estimation of ALLP.