Alex Okaru

University of Nairobi | UON · Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Reducing the alcoholic strength in beverages as a strategy to reduce harmful alcohol use has been proposed by multilateral institutions such as the World Health Organization and governments worldwide. Different industrial and artisanal techniques are used to achieve low-alcohol content beverages. Therefore, regulations regarding the content of alco...

Background: The oral cavity harbors many microbes that may cause diseases, including dental caries and periodontal diseases. Progressive inflammation from periodontal diseases may lead to gum detachment from the teeth. Povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine mouth rinses and gargles are broad-spectrum antimicrobial products that effectively manage dental...

Quantitative assessments of the health risk of the constituents of alcoholic beverages including ethanol are reported in the literature, generally with hepatotoxic effects considered as the endpoint. Risk assessment studies on minor compounds such as mycotoxins, metals, and other contaminants are also available on carcinogenicity as the endpoint. T...

Background Coffee is a popular beverage with two species, Coffea canephora and C. arabica, being commercially exploited. The quality and commercial value of coffee is dependent on species and processing. C. arabica typically obtains a higher price on the market compared to C. canephora. Coffee beans undergo roasting during processing, resulting in...

Monitoring coffee quality as a means of detecting and preventing economically motivated fraud is an important aspect of international commerce today. Therefore, there is a compelling need for rapid high throughput validated analytical techniques such as quantitative proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for screening and authenticity...

Monitoring coffee quality as a means of detecting and preventing economically motivated fraud is an important aspect of international commerce today. Therefore, there is a compelling need for rapid high throughput validated analytical techniques such as quantitative proton NMR spectroscopy for screening and authenticity testing. For this reason, we...

The World Health Organization estimates that globally out of the 6.2 L of pure alcohol consumed per person (15 + years), 25% is unrecorded alcohol. Unrecorded alcohol is defined as alcohol not registered in the legislation where it is consumed and includes homemade, surrogate, and counterfeit alcohols. Since the production, distribution, and consum...

Furfuryl alcohol is a food borne heat generated compound that occurs in variable amounts in certain foods, typically less than 1mgkg-1. Thermal processing of foods and ageing of alcoholic beverages are the major sources of furfuryl alcohol. The highest contents of furfuryl alcohol have been reported in coffee beans (>100 mg kg-1), fish products (ab...

Beverage fraud involving counterfeiting of brand spirits is an increasing problem not only due to deception of the consumer but also because it poses health risks e.g. from possible methanol admixture. Suspicious spirit samples from Russia and Kenya were analysed using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in comparison to authentic prod...

Abstract Background Consumption of very hot (> 65 °C) beverages is probably associated with increased risk of oesophageal cancer. First associations were reported for yerba mate and it was initially believed that high content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) might explain the risk. Later research on other beverage groups such as tea and co...

Cheap licit and artisanal illicit spirit drinks have been associated with numerous outbreaks of alcohol poisoning especially with methanol. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of cheap spirit drinks in Kibera slums in Nairobi County, Kenya. The samples consisted of cheap licit spirits (n=11) and the artisanal spirit drink, 'chang'aa', (n=28)....

A simple, rapid, and selective quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic method was evaluated for the determination of the content of fluorinated pharmaceuticals. 19F NMR spectra were either obtained in dimethylsulfoxide-d 6 or aqueous buffer, using trifluoroacetic acid as internal standard. Quantification of 13 fluorine-containing phar...

Cheap licit and artisanal illicit spirit drinks have been associated with numerous outbreaks of alcohol poisoning especially with methanol. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of cheap spirit drinks in Kibera slums in Nairobi County, Kenya. The samples consisted of cheap licit spirits (n = 11) and the artisanal spirit drink, 'chang'aa', (n = 2...

Cheap licit and artisanal illicit spirit drinks have been associated with numerous outbreaks of alcohol poisoning especially with methanol. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of cheap spirit drinks in Kibera slums in Nairobi County, Kenya. The samples consisted of cheap licit spirits (n=11) and the artisanal spirit drink, ‘chang’aa’, (n=28)....

Samples of unrecorded opaque beers (n=58; 40 based on maize, 5 on sorghum and 13 on other plants) and recorded wines (n=8) in Kenya were screened for aflatoxins using a rapid ELISA technique followed by confirmation using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Six of the maize beers were obtained from Kibera slums in Nairobi County. Aflato...

For decades, compounds present in foods and beverages have been implicated in the etiology of human cancers. The World Health Organization (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) continues to classify such agents regarding their potential carcinogenicity in humans based on new evidence from animal and human studies. Furfuryl alcoho...

A simple, isocratic and robust RP-HPLC method for the analysis of azithromycin was developed, validated and applied for the analysis of bulk samples, tablets and suspensions. The optimum chromatographic conditions for separation were established as a mobile phase comprised of acetonitrile-0.1 M KH2PO4 pH 6.5–0.1 M tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide pH 6...

A simple, isocratic and robust RP-HPLC method for the analysis of azithromycin was developed, validated and applied for the analysis of bulk samples, tablets and suspensions. The optimum chromatographic conditions for separation were established as mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.1M KH2PO4 pH 6.5-0.1M tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide pH 6.5-...

Supplementary Figures S1-S13 (19F NMR spectra of all investigated compounds).

A simple, isocratic and robust RP-HPLC method for the analysis of azithromycin was developed, validated and applied for the analysis of bulk samples, tablets and suspensions. The optimum chromatographic conditions for separation were established as mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.1M KH2PO4 pH 6.5-0.1M tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide pH 6.5-...

For decades, compounds present in foods and beverages have been implicated in the etiology of human cancers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) continues to classify such agents regarding their potential carcinogenicity in humans based on new evidence from animal and human studies. Furfuryl alcohol and β-myrcene belong to these...

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was applied to the analysis of alcoholic products in the context of health and safety control. A total of 86 samples of unrecorded alcohol were collected in Novosibirsk and nearby cities in Russia. Sampling was based on interviews with alcohol dependent patients, and unrecorded alcohol thus defined incl...

A simple, isocratic and robust RP-HPLC method for the analysis of azithromycin was developed, validated and applied for the analysis of bulk samples, tablets and suspensions. The optimum chromatographic conditions for separation were established as mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.1M KH2PO4 pH 6.5-0.1M tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide pH 6.5-...

Prolonged oral use of ibuprofen for chronic conditions such as arthritis may cause peptic ulcer disease. Topical gel formulations have been developed to overcome this shortcoming. An immediate release formulation of ibuprofen would find application as a transdermal patch for management of chronic inflammatory conditions. In our study, a topical ibu...

During the period 2006-2010, the Drug Analysis and Research Unit analyzed 583 samples. The samples comprised 50.6% local and 49.4% imported products. Samples were subjected to compendial or in-house specifications. The failure rate was 12.2% for local products and 14.2% for imports. Antibacterial products recorded the highest failure rate (21.6%) w...

Three different topical formulations namely gel, cream and ointment, each containing 1% w/w metronidazole, were prepared and in vitro permeation studies carried out. The permeation of metronidazole from each of the topical formulation was determined using dialyzing cellulose membrane in a dissolution tester. Glycerin, a permeation enhancer, was inc...