Metronidazole is an antiprotozoal drug which is also effective against anaerobic bacteria. The availability of several brands of Metronidazole tablets in Libyan pharmacies today places health practitioners and a pharmacist in a problem of drug substitution in case of a particular brand is not available. The aim of the present study was the evaluation and comparison of pharmaceutical equivalence of five different Metronidazole coated tablets 500 mg, which are commercially available in the private pharmacies in Tripoli city, produced by various pharmaceutical companies with different trade names. The pharmaceutical quality of five brands of Metronidazole tablets was analyzed using official and unofficial quality control tests prescribed in different Pharmacopoeia including uniformity of weight, thickness, hardness, disintegration time, drug content as well as dissolution rate and assay. Acceptable external features as well as uniformity in diameter and thickness were revealed for all the tablets. The entire selected brands complied with the official specifications for uniformity of weight, hardness and disintegration, they released more than 75% of their drug content within 45 minutes. It can be concluded that all the brands could be regarded as bioequivalent and therefore can be interchanged in the clinical practice; this sort of study is good indicator for the evaluation of the idealness of commercial products and showed the importance of post marketing investigation for the drugs imported and distributed in Libya.
Sakina Salem Saadawi(12-2021)

Aims: This article aimed to study the effect of different caffeine concentrations on behaviour and motor activity of mice. Place and Duration of Study: This study took place in Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tripoli, and was conducted between 2017 to 2018. Methodology: The experiment was carried out using 24 male mice (25-30 gm). Plus maze was used for screening antianxiety effect of caffeine. While swimming maze was used to test the antidepressant effect. Descriptive statistics was performed using SPSS (version 22), followed by one sample Kolmogorov-Simirnov test. One-Way ANOVA was applied to compare between groups and Post Hoc test (LSD). Results: At a dose of 100 mg/kg, caffeine produce significant decrease in the duration of immobility using forced swimming maze; while the lower (25 mg/kg) and the higher (200 mg/kg) doses did not produce any changes compared to the control. In plus maze, Caffeine decreases the anxiety measure at the dose used of 100 mg/kg; but did not change the anxiety measure when lower (25 mg/kg) or higher (200 mg/kg) doses used compared to the control. The spontaneous motor activity was decreased significantly after administration of the higher dose of 200 mg/kg; the lower dose (25 mg/kg) showed insignificant increase, while the dose of 100 mg/kg produce insignificant decrease in the spontaneous motor activity. Conclusion: Caffeine has dose dependent effect, in a dose 100 mg/kg it produce anxiolytic and antidepressant like action, while lower (25 mg/kg) and higher (200 mg/kg) doses did not show any changes. Caffeine also produce dose dependent decrease in the spontaneous motor activity, this indicate that caffeine produce CNS depression with higher doses. arabic 12 English 73
Sakina S. Saadawi, Khairi A. Alennabi, Sumaya Baayo, Amera Fares, Najwa Alosta, Suher M. Aburawi(3-2020)

Vigorous research has been conducted into the phenology of the shea tree, its usage and that of the shea butter extracted from the nuts of the shea fruit. Shea butter is the most valuable product in the Shea tree and its use as raw or in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products was expanded in the last years. The aim was to carry out comparative study between imported South African raw Shea Butter, one sample from Poland and samples from Libyan market on their physical properties (organoleptic), thin layer chromatography (TLC) chromatogram, phytochemical screening and diphenylpicrylhydrazil (DPPH) scavenging activity. As well as antimicrobial screening. Organoleptic test was carried out by comparing color and odor. TLC chromatogram was performed by spotting solution of samples in hexane on TLC plate and eluted twice in hexane: ethylacetate 8:2 to get good separation. Phytochemical screening was performed to determine the presence of carbohydrates (Fehling test), steroids, and triterpens (Salkwiski test). DPPH assay was carried out by spraying TLC sample spots by 0.2% DPPH methanolic solution. Antimicrobial test was conducted on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Mueller-Hinton agar was used with ciprofolxacin as +ve control and DMSO as–ve control. As a result, Shea Butter samples showed wide diversity in color and odor which considered normal except two white samples that might undergo refining process, while spreadability and TLC chromatograms were similar. Samples and control showed presence of carbohydrates, steroids and triterpens. Control and samples had DPPH scavenging activity. Shea Butter control and samples had no antimicrobial activities against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. arabic 17 English 111
Sakina Salem Saadawi, Khairi Ali Alennabi, Hanin Nafed Mughrbi, Kholoud Lotfi, Nesrin Saleh Ali Abdulnabi(4-2020)