Chapter 1
Chapter 1
1.0 Background
Over the past decade, a number of herbal and complimentary products has attracted
diseases. Due to the high frequency of using herbal medicines, the concurrent use of
herbal medicines and conventional drugs has also increased. Although herbal products
are generally regarded as safe, however some of their constituents can modify
countless xenobiotic metabolic reactions and transport systems which play an important
drug metabolic enzymes and herbal constituents as well as drug transporters with
herbal constituents which can alter the pharmacokinetics of the conventional drugs. For
example, the constituent in Allium cepa (onion), quercetin inhibits the activity of human
With more and more popular use of herbal medicines, herb-drug interactions have
concomitant administration with a food, beverage, herb or another drug. These are
complicated due to the fact that multiple chemical components are involved and these
one chemical or substance affects the way in which another drug is absorbed,
distributed, metabolized and eliminated from the system (Bakare-Odunola et al. 2008).
Herbs may affect the behavior of the concomitantly used drugs by changing their
drug levels and activity leading to either therapeutic failure or toxicity. Also, there may
2003).
Biotransformation reactions can be classified into two i.e. phase I reactions and phase II
metabolic reactions include oxidation, reduction and hydrolysis and these are catalyzed
by cytochrome P-450. Biotransformation reactions can be classified into two i.e. phase I
metabolite. Phase I metabolic reactions include oxidation, reduction and hydrolysis and
these are catalyzed by cytochrome P-450 isoenzymes. These are a super family of
enzymes which are commonly known as microsomal mixed function oxidases which are
responsible for catalyzing the bio-inorganic chemistry of drug metabolism. A bulk of all
pump which plays a significant role in the intestinal absorption and distribution to the
central nervous system and also in the urinary extraction of drugs. Therefore, the
concentrations of drugs.
profiles as well as identify drug-herbal combinations that pose risks (Mustapha et al.
2009).
In the past ten years, the popularity of herbal medicines has become an increasingly
important in the medical field. These medicines are generally regarded as safe but
become a serious clinical issue. Many adverse effects occur because are mostly used
pharmacokinetic effects of using concurrently using ginger and oral paracetamol. This
therefore not only addresses a knowledge gap but also helps in curbing the clinical
1.2 Aim
To investigate the effects of water extracts of ginger on the single oral dose
1.3 Objectives
1.4 Justification.
The purpose of this project is to carry out pharmacokinetic interaction studies in patients
have been extensively studied, many reports on the drug-herb interactions are sketchy
and lack analysis of suspect preparations, hence there is a need to study the
society as patients believe that they are safer and more effective than conventional
medicines. This high frequency of using herbal medicines has also caused an upsurge
in the concurrent use of both conventional and herbal medicines. This project aims to
carry out pharmacokinetic studies between a herbal medicine and a conventional drug
(Bakare-Odunola et al, 2010). The results of this investigation may provide an insight of
how medical practitioners and patients can help to curb the dangers of drug-herb