ABSTRACT
Introduction: Studies have shown that there has been an increase in the use of herbal medicines amongst people with chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension or acute diseases like infections. Most people on antihypertensive drugs have been found to also use herbal drugs like Ruzu Herbal Bitter. The concomitant administration of both drugs posed a challenge as there could be possible interactions between the orthodox medicines and the herbal medicines.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate any possible interaction between some antihypertensive drugs and Ruzu Herbal Bitters (RHB).
Methods: Hydrochlorothiazide tablet, Moduretic tablet, RHB were purchased and tested for their tablet properties. The interaction between RHB and the drugs was assessed with the disintegration time and dissolution profiles of the tablets in the presence of the RHB and the individual components of the RHB. Interaction between the drugs and RHB was also tested using Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy (FTIR).
Results: The preliminary results showed that the Hydrochlorothiazide tablets and Moduretic tablets used in the test met the BP specification in terms of the physicochemical properties. For the disintegration time, there was no significance time difference for the drugs in the presence of RHB. For the dissolution time profile, there were significant differences in the dissolution time Hydrochlorothiazide had 70.63% and 42.21% drug released at 30minutes in the presence and absence of RHB while, Amiloride had 42.79% and 70.31% released at 45minutes in the presence and absence of RHB. The FTIR spectra showed some levels of interactions by the disappearance of some peaks and also increased in the levels of some peaks.
Conclusion: This study has shown that there are some levels of interaction in the concomitant administration of antihypertensives (hydrochlorothiazide and moduretic) and the herbal medicine (RHB).
