Six herbal diabetic recipes to be processed – NIPRD

Just where does the evaluation project stand at the moment?There have been about six lead products. Six promising samples out of about 80 that even in our laboratories had indications of being able to affect the diabetes situation. The purpose of our investigation is to find a scientific clue so that they are developed to […]

Just where does the evaluation project stand at the moment?
There have been about six lead products. Six promising samples out of about 80 that even in our laboratories had indications of being able to affect the diabetes situation. The purpose of our investigation is to find a scientific clue so that they are developed to international standards. Medicines are not meant for localities, but for use all over. For a country to accept another’s product, it must have been evaluated using common standards.
Based on those tests, we have identified six leads. Without the World Bank project, this wouldn’t have been possible. The WB project is big, it is really, really messy. It is an extra-budgetary work sponsored by the WB through the Step B project. We have also procured equipment so that even after July, there are going to be investments here that we can use for other anti-diabetic screening.
So our foundation in equipment and infrastructure has been enhanced. Staff  trained are not going to end in July. Where we see this at NIPRD is that it is a permanent investment that will complement government effort towards the institute functional and productive efforts.

Are you are looking for active ingredients to treat diabetes?
We are looking for active materials. We are doing bioassay. Most commonly, the products used by herbalists are a mixtures and not pure components. Up to the extent that the effect we notice during lead investigation is reproduced, and cascaded down to specific molecules. But any time separation of these mixtures brings less effect, then we stop. So the issue is the effectiveness in the patient or in the condition. That’s the key thing we are evaluating.

Essentially, are these preparations already on the market?
Yes, for the herbalists, but they are going to come out in a standardised form. We won’t change them, but if, for instance, the herbalist prepared his drugs daily because of disintegration or for whatever reason, we also try to enhance that stability so it can be used for two days and so on.
That’s the scientific input. Because most of the local medicines that decompose in quick time are due usually to either contamination or oxidation. If it is due to auto-oxidation-automatic or self absorption of oxygen that causes change and that destabilises it-we have antioxidants added, which are inert: they don’t produce effect on their own but they are able to slow down oxidation, thereby prolonging the life of the product.
These practical things are what we do with science and technology to boost the products. And sometimes presentation too. If through our evaluation we find that half a glass of water is enough to prepare the medicine, then we advise that you can’t make it with a full glass, because the essence is delivery.

The ongoing project and candidate active ingredients, is the project able to check for drug interactions and mechanisms as to how they work on diabetics?
It’s in stages. The first thing we do is evaluate for safety and contamination, if it is already formulated. What’s the microbial load? If you see some microbes in there, no matter the value, you don’t accept it. But there are processes of reducing the load. First of all, we try to know how safe it is. Safety could also be due to real chemicals that are there, that are not intended for that use. All these are investigated usually in animals.
When you talk of toxicity in the liver or kidney, these are organs that have to be tested whenever a drug is being evaluated. The safety on the liver is determined usually even in healthy animals to see if as a result of use of such herbs the key organs are affected, then there is no point no matter how good such products start.
So we move from there to mechanisms. If it’s anti-diabetic, for instance, to what extent is it and how would it work. Would it work on membranes, the pancreas or substitute for hormones like insulin? We have the tools to investigate this. At the end of the day, the satisfactory research is one that can tell about the safety, efficacy and if possible the mechanism of action.

My question was whether the project is able to resolve those questions up to mechanism or even interactions, or is it stopping at safety and efficacy?
The approach we do is critical evaluation of safety and effect on organs, because the safety involves both organs and general well being of our preliminary test animals. Clues are obtained from there. As you do this, you record data-blood pressure and all. Once you have stable information on safety, efficacy and stability, the product is qualified by the regulatory authority. For all these products we call “low-hanging fruits”, the study we do in the first phase is aimed at listing the products at NAFDAC. It is from that listing that we move into closer look at the mechanism and other benefits of the material, and safety. We are also looking-possibly at cellular level-at possible interactions between the herbal products and normal food of the body and the metabolic processes of the body and certain specific target enzymes that do interact with such medicines. That is going to add value. That’s what we do on listed products. The ultimate goal is to get products fully registered and prescribable in hospitals.