KNUST scientists find high levels of bacteria, fungi in FDA-approved male sexual enhancement herbal drugs
A study carried out by researchers from the KNUST School of Medicine and Dentistry has revealed unacceptable levels of bacterial and fungal contamination of sexual enhancement herbal drugs on the Ghanaian market.
The FDA-approved drugs were found to contain 8 bacteria and 3 fungi.
In recent times, there has been a lot of publicity on male sexual enhancement herbal drugs.
Such herbal medicines claim to improve sexual prowess in men.
The research set out to determine the microbial quality of some frequently used “manpower” drugs.
For the study, 10 sets of five of the most frequently used male sexual herbal drugs where sampled and tested in the lab.
The researchers found that several types of bacteria including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella pneumonia, Streptococcus pneumonia and Enterococcus spp in the samples.
These are known to cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever, cough and flue like symptoms to name a few.
Some major fungi also identified were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Trichophyton.
Aspergillus is notorious for causing complicated lung infections, especially in the immuno-compromised.
The bacterial and fungal levels were observed to be well above the maximum permissible levels of the European Pharmacopoeia.
According to the scientists, these findings indicate that the microbial contamination may have occurred externally, or probably already present on the raw plant material that were collected and subsequently used in the manufacture of the drugs.
The researchers recommend that the Food and Drugs Authority and the Ghana Standards Authority as well as other applicable accreditation agencies perform routine check-ups in these manufacturing companies.
“Those involved in drug manufacturing especially need to be checked to make sure quality control laboratories are established to ensure the quality of their drugs before they are marketed for public consumption,” said Emmanuel Kwadwo Akakpo, lead researcher, department of molecular medicine.
Source: Ghana News
