Pharmaco-epidemiologic Survey and Experimental Study of Coadministration of Three Herbal Products with Paracetamol

Abstract

Pharmacoepidemiological survey of the use of herbal products and orthodox drugs was carried out within a university community
using structured questionnaires. Three commonly used herbal products; Oroki Herbal Mixture® (OH), Mama Decoction® (MD) 
and Alomo Bitters® (AB) and co-administration with paracetamol were investigated based on the dosage instructions. Analgesic 
activity was evaluated using Hotplate method to determine the pain reaction time (PRT), while haematological and biochemical 
analysis and histopathological evaluation of the organs were carried out at the end of the study using standard procedures. All
the herbal products showed significant analgesic activity, co-administration with paracetamol resulted in slight reduction in the 
PRT of AB and OH, while MD showed a significant reduction in time to reach peak PRT from 120 minutes to 30minutes. There 
was no significant effect on PCV, RBC and Hb level, while varied effect on other haematological parameters was observed by 
the co-administration with paracetamol. Co-administration of AB and MD increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT), while 
reduction was observed in OH. All the herbal products and their combination with paracetamol showed various stages of liver 
damage. Marked testicular degeneration was observed with co-administration of the herbal products with paracetamol, while 
kidney morphology was normal in all the treatments. All the herbal products investigated showed analgesic activities with 
synergistic enhancement of analgesic activity of paracetamol by Mama Decoction. However, their effect and their coadministration with paracetamol on some of the biochemical and haematological parameters as well as the damage to the liver 
and testes call for caution.