Browsing by Author "Mensah, Adelaide"

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    Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of cryptolepis-based herbal formulations in Ghana
    (2015-11-02) Mensah, Adelaide
    Cryptolepine is the first and main alkaloid isolated from the West African shrub Cryptolepis Sanguinolenta. Cryptolepine has been extensively studied and scientifically proven to exhibit antimuscarinic, antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, hypoglycaemic and antimalarial activities. It is also reported to be cytotoxic, being a DNA intercalator and a topoisomerase II inhibitor. In Ghana, Cryptolepis-based preparations which are mainly aqueous extracts of whole roots of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta are used as antimalarials. Currently, there are a number of branded Cryptolepis Sanguinolenta herbal formulations on the Ghanaian market. The proliferation of these brands calls for pharmacovigilance to ensure that spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit (SFFC) brands are identified to ensure the safety and quality of these formulations and hence improve malaria treatment outcomes.