Lucia K Keter

Kenya Medical Research Institute | KEMRI · Centre for Traditional Medicine and Drug Research (CTMDR)

Background: Poor-quality medicines reduce the therapeutic efficacy of medicines, negatively impacting the treatment outcomes, prevention, and management of fatal infections. This cross-sectional study evaluated the quality of selected co-trimoxazole tablets marketed in Nairobi County, Kenya. Methodology: A total of 42 samples categorized into ten b...

Background Medicinal plants have been used time immemorial to treat various ailments and diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms attributed bioactive compounds they contain. Such compounds may have developed in plants as self-defense mechanism against pests and pathogens purposely to survive and perpetuate themselves in their ecosystem. A few...

Introduction Quality of medicines in both developed and developing countries is sometimes compromised due to infiltration of counterfeit, substandard or degraded medicines into the markets. It is a public health concern as poor quality medicines endanger public health where patients are exposed to chemical toxins and/or sub-therapeutic doses. This...

Background: Medicinal plants have been used in the treatment of various ailments in most developing countries. Oral infections are the most prevalent diseases in man. The Rhus family has been found to have antimicrobial, antimalarial, and anti-inflammatory properties. Few studies have been done on Rhus vulgaris Meikle. A study was conducted to det...

Antibiotics are among the most counterfeited anti-infectious medicines in developing countries. Amoxicillin is one of the commonly prescribed, affordable, and easily accessible antibiotic in Kenya. It is a broad-spectrum antibiotic hence commonly used in chemotherapy. This study sought to determine the quality and identify the various brands of amo...

Background: Polyscias fulva (Hiern) Harms stem bark is used in traditional folk medicine in Kenya for diabetes mellitus and obesity management. This study sought to examine the antidiabetic effects of ethanolic stem bark extract of P. fulva in streptozotocin (STZ)–induced diabetic Wistar albino rats. Methods: Diabetes in rats was induced by intrape...

Background Soil transmitted helminths (STHs) are among the world’s neglected tropical diseases. Morbidity due to STHs is greatest in school-age children who typically have the highest burden of infection. In 2001, WHO passed a resolution for the use of large-scale mass drug administration (MDA) to deworm vulnerable children through school based pro...

Infectious diseases affect human health. Current research focused on in vitro antifungal activity and safety of aqueous, dichloromethane and methanolic extracts of Maesa lanceolata against Candida glabrata ATCC 24433, Cryptococcus neoformans ATCC 66031, Microsporum gypseum, Trychophyton mentagrophtes and Aspergillus flavus using agar-disc diffusion...

Utilization of herbal products is a major concern due to the possibility of contamination by toxigenic fungi that are mycotoxin producers such as Aspergillus species during processing and packaging. Research was carried out to determine the presence of aflatoxins and fumonisins in herbal medicinal products sold in Eldoret and Mombasa towns in Kenya...

Background: Medicinal herbs have been reported to be contaminated with microorganisms indigenous to the environment. These microbes become a threat when they harbour drug-resistant traits. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate phenotypic and genotypic drug-resistant traits of bacteria isolated from herbal medicinal products in Nairobi, K...

Background: Medicinal herbs have been reported to be contaminated with microorganisms indigenous to the environment. These microbes become a threat when they harbour drug-resistant traits. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate phenotypic and genotypic drug-resistant traits of bacteria isolated from herbal medicinal products in Nairobi, K...

Herbal products are used worldwide for the treatment and prevention of various diseases and currently represent a substantial proportion of the global drug market. However, these products have the potential of being contaminated by different microorganisms due to poor hygienic practices during handling, processing and packaging. The main aim of thi...

Tuberculosis remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya. The main challenges compounding Tuberculosis control include drug resistant tuberculosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus /Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) co-infections and the declining funding for tuberculosis control among others. Factors such as non-adherence to...

TMR5 (ZedupexTM) is a product of a Kenyan medicinal plant, prepared as a lyophilized extract and a cream. The products have been evaluated for preclinical safety and efficacy in suitable in vitro and in vivo systems of herpes infections. Herpes is a viral infection affecting over 60% of the sub-Saharan Africa young adult population. It is caused by...

Citation: Mutai C, Keter L, Ngeny L, jeruto P (2012) Effects of Triterpenoids on Herpes Simplex Virus Type1 (Hsv-1) In Vitro. Med Aromat Plants 1:106.

Diabetes mellitus is a growing problem in many developing countries and the financial burden associated with it is enormous. In traditional African communities, majority of people relies on traditional medicines and Traditional Health Practitioners as the primary source of health care. Hence, this study was undertaken in the Lower Eastern province...

A liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of six human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) protease inhibitors, indinavir, saquinavir, ritonavir, amprenavir, nelfinavir and lopinavir, was developed and validated. Optimal separation was achieved on a PLRP-S 100 Å, 250 x 4.6 mm I.D. column maintained at 60 °C, a mobile phase consist...

Ten plant extracts commonly used by the Meru community of Kenya were evaluated for the in vitro antiplasmodial, in vivo antimalarial, cytotoxicity and animal toxicity activities. The water and methanol extracts of Ludwigia erecta and the methanol extracts of Fuerstia africana and Schkuhria pinnata exhibited high antiplasmodial activity (IC(50) < 5...

Methanolic and water extracts of five medicinal plant species used for treatment of malaria in traditional/cultural health systems of Kwale people in Kenya were tested for antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium berghei, respectively and for their cytotoxic effects. The most active extracts (IC(50)<10 microg/ml) screened...

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is a major opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed persons. It is therefore a serious disease in high HIV/AIDS prevalence areas as in sub-Saharan Africa where infections due to HSV have risen significantly. The development of resistant strains of HSV to the available drugs for infection management, as is evi...

To establish the quality of pharmaceutical products manufactured by the respective industries in Kenya and determine the effect of manufacturing practices on the quality of these products. Cross-sectional study. Industries examined are in Nairobi, Kenya. Laboratory analysis was carried out using available facilities at Kenya Medical Research Instit...