Objectives:We systematically reviewed the rational use of medicines using the World Health Organiza-tion/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs(WHO/INRUD)core drug use indicators.We also assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the National Drug Policy(NDP)2005 on the rational use of medicines.Methods:Searches were conducted in PubMed,Scopus,and Google Scholar databases to identify studies that met our eligibility criteria.Assessment of the quality of studies was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute criteria for analytical studies.We reported and compared the median values of WHO/INRUD core drug use indicators with standard thresholds.Data were presented with median,interquartile range(IQR),and percentages.Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to assess for statistical significance(P＜0.05)across variables.Results:Thirty-one studies were included in the review,comprising 50,931 patient encounters across 268 health facilities.Within prescribing indicators,average number of medicines per patient encountered[3.4(IQR:3.0 to 4.0)],percentage of medicines prescribed by generic[50.4％(IQR:47.4％to 65.0％)],percentage of en-counters with antibiotic prescribed[40.2％(IQR:30.5％to 52.7％)],percentage of encounters with injection prescribed[18％(IQR:3.2％to 30.0％)]and the percentage of medicines prescribed from essential medicines list[82.0％(IQR:66.4％to 89.3％)].The median percentage of encounters with antibiotics(P=0.04)and the median percentage of medicines prescribed by generics(P=0.03)increased during and after the COVID-19 pan-demic.Prescribing indicators were worse in primary and secondary health facilities,with significant differences in the median percentage of encounters with antibiotics(P=0.007)and injections(P=0.0002)across primary,secondary,and tertiary health facilities.There were improvements across all prescribing indicators after the implementation of NDP 2005.Conclusions:Core drug use indicators in Nigerian health facilities deviated from the WHO/INRUD thresholds,with noticeable improvement after the implementation of NDP 2005.More efforts are needed to improve rational drug use in Nigerian hospitals.

Objectives:We systematically reviewed the rational use of medicines using the World Health Organiza-tion/International Network of Rational Use of Drugs(WHO/INRUD)core drug use indicators.We also assessed the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the National Drug Policy(NDP)2005 on the rational use of medicines.Methods:Searches were conducted in PubMed,Scopus,and Google Scholar databases to identify studies that met our eligibility criteria.Assessment of the quality of studies was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute criteria for analytical studies.We reported and compared the median values of WHO/INRUD core drug use indicators with standard thresholds.Data were presented with median,interquartile range(IQR),and percentages.Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to assess for statistical significance(P＜0.05)across variables.Results:Thirty-one studies were included in the review,comprising 50,931 patient encounters across 268 health facilities.Within prescribing indicators,average number of medicines per patient encountered[3.4(IQR:3.0 to 4.0)],percentage of medicines prescribed by generic[50.4％(IQR:47.4％to 65.0％)],percentage of en-counters with antibiotic prescribed[40.2％(IQR:30.5％to 52.7％)],percentage of encounters with injection prescribed[18％(IQR:3.2％to 30.0％)]and the percentage of medicines prescribed from essential medicines list[82.0％(IQR:66.4％to 89.3％)].The median percentage of encounters with antibiotics(P=0.04)and the median percentage of medicines prescribed by generics(P=0.03)increased during and after the COVID-19 pan-demic.Prescribing indicators were worse in primary and secondary health facilities,with significant differences in the median percentage of encounters with antibiotics(P=0.007)and injections(P=0.0002)across primary,secondary,and tertiary health facilities.There were improvements across all prescribing indicators after the implementation of NDP 2005.Conclusions:Core drug use indicators in Nigerian health facilities deviated from the WHO/INRUD thresholds,with noticeable improvement after the implementation of NDP 2005.More efforts are needed to improve rational drug use in Nigerian hospitals.

Introduction: The human tau protein is a key protein involved in various neurodegenerative disease (NDs) including Parkinson’s disease (PD). The protein has high tendency to aggregate into oligomers, subsequently generating insoluble mass in the brain. Symptoms of PD include tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Currently drugs for PD treatment are only symptom-targeted while effective therapeutic treatment remains a challenge. The objective of this study is to identify novel promising anti-PD drugs using computational techniques. Method: ligand-based (LB) receptor modelling was conducted using LigandScout, validated and subjected to Glide XP docking, virtual screening, ADMET, and molecular dynamics predictions. Results: The adopted LB modelling generated pharmacophoric features of 5 hydrogen bond donors, 1 aromatic rings, and 7 hydrogen bond acceptors. The validation result indicated GH score of 0.73 and EF of 36.30 as validation protocols, probing it to be an ideal model. Using 3D query of the modelling a total of 192 compounds were retrieved from interbioscreen database containing 70,436 natural compounds. Interestingly, ligands 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 orderly indicated higher binding affinities to the receptor with Glide XP docking of -7.451, -7.368, -7.101, -6.878, and -6.789 compared to a clinical drug Anle138b with -4.552 kcal/mol respectively. Furthermore, molecular dynamics and pkCSM pharmacokinetics demonstrated ligands 1, 2, & 4 having better stability and low toxicity profiles compared to the reference. Conclusion: In summary, the study pave way for discovery of small molecules that could be recommended as adjuvant /single candidate as ant-PD candidates upon further translational study.