Abstract Introduction: Psychological stress is a common psychiatric disorder in medical students and sometimes is associated with depression. Students at university usually met a great pressure that they face in their study life and to the hard circumstances in the everyday life. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of depression and stress among university medical students in Libya. Materials and methods: Data was collected by three different questionnaires: the first questionnaire is 6-ITEM Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS), the second questionnaire is Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) which are used to diagnose and to assess the severity of depression. The third questionnaire is a simplified self-scoring test for evaluating stress and tension levels. The three questionnaires have all been distributed to the medical sciences students at University of Tripoli in March and May, 2019. According to the registered students in the academic year, 2018/2019, the sample size was composed of 170 students. Results: The major finding of screening revealed that 45% of the total students suffering from depression during their study. This high prevalence composed of mild and moderate type of depression among the students (45% and 25%, respectively). On the other hand, about 40% and 50% of the students have identified as mild and moderate stress, respectively. About 10% of the students have detected as severe stress. Conclusions: This study indicates a high prevalence of mild and moderate depression among medical university students in Libya. Results suggest that university mental health services and programs addressing the students are highly recommended.

Resumen Introducción: El estrés psicológico es un trastorno psiquiátrico común en los estudiantes de medicina y, en ocasiones, se asocia con la depresión. Los estudiantes universitarios suelen encontrarse con una gran presión a la que se enfrentan en su vida de estudio y ante las duras circunstancias de la vida cotidiana. El objetivo de este estudio es estimar la prevalencia de depresión y estrés entre estudiantes universitarios de medicina en Libia. Materiales y métodos: Los datos se recopilaron mediante tres cuestionarios diferentes: el primer cuestionario es la Escala de depresión adolescente de Kutcher de 6 elementos (KADS), el segundo cuestionario es el Cuestionario de salud del paciente-9 (PHQ-9) que se utiliza para diagnosticar y evaluar la gravedad de depresión. El tercer cuestionario es una prueba de autoevaluación simplificada para evaluar los niveles de estrés y tensión. Los tres cuestionarios se han distribuido a los estudiantes de ciencias médicas de la Universidad de Trípoli en marzo y mayo de 2019. Según los estudiantes registrados en el año académico 2018/2019, el tamaño de la muestra estaba compuesto por 170 estudiantes. Resultados: El principal hallazgo de la evaluación reveló que el 45% del total de estudiantes sufrían depresión durante su estudio. Esta alta prevalencia estaba compuesta por depresión de tipo leve y moderada entre los estudiantes (45% y 25%, respectivamente). Por otro lado, alrededor del 40% y 50% de los estudiantes se han identificado con estrés leve y moderado, respectivamente. Alrededor del 10% de los estudiantes han detectado un estrés severo. Conclusiones: Este estudio indica una alta prevalencia de depresión leve y moderada entre los estudiantes universitarios de medicina en Libia. Los resultados sugieren que los servicios y programas universitarios de salud mental dirigidos a los estudiantes son altamente recomendados.

Abstract The practice of pharmacy in health care societies continues to undergo evolutionary and even radical changes. It has changed to a personal health service charged with assuring pharmaceutic and therapeutic appropriateness of all its functions in the care of patients. The purpose of this study is to review and analysis the historical stages of development of the good pharmaceutical practice (GPP) requirements and to recommend a guideline for the implementation of GPP standards in Libya as a way to improve the pharmaceutical care and profession. The study designates that the development of the GPP standards should be committed at the public professional organizations levels as pharmaceutical syndicates and associations as the national regulation of pharmacy practices in various countries and the local health authorities. This requires basic skills of documentation, professional and communication with all relative professions and it, therefore, is important to establish standards for community, hospital and consultant pharmacists to promote the pharmaceutical mission.

Launaea resedifolia (L.) Kuntze (família: Asteraceae), sinônimo Scorzonera resedifolia L., é uma planta medicinal utilizada na medicina popular da Líbia para o tratamento de problemas hepáticos. Todavia, não há relato de qualquer avaliação farmacológica de L. resedifolia disponível na literatura. Neste estudo, o potencial neurofarmacológico do extrato etanólico desta planta foi analisado em modelos animais. Os extratos de Launaea resedifolia exibiram um efeito inibitório na atividade locomotora de camundongos no teste de campo aberto, um efeito anti-nociceptivo pelo aumento do tempo de reação em placa quente no teste da placa quente e uma atividade anti-inflamatória no edema de pata induzido por carragenina. Além disso, um efeito sedativo foi evidente pela diminuição no início do tempo de sono barbitúrico e aumento na duração do tempo de sono barbitúrico em ratos. O extrato etanólico também demonstrou uma diminuição significativa na taxa de mortalidade induzida por picrotoxina em aproximadamente 66% e uma redução considerável no peso corporal de camundongos comparada aos grupos controle.

Launaea resedifolia (L.) Kuntze (family: Asteraceae), synonym Scorzonera resedifolia L., is a medicinal plant used in the Libyan folkloric medicine mainly for the treatment of hepatic pains. However, there is no report on any pharmacological evaluation of L. resedifolia available to date. In this study, the neuropharmacological potential of the ethanol extract of this plant has been assessed in animal models. Launaea resedifolia extracts exhibited an inhibitory effect on the locomotor activity of mice in the open field test, an anti-nociceptive effect by increasing the hot plate reaction time in the hot plate test, and an anti-inflammatory activity in the carrageenan-induced paw oedema. Furthermore, a sedative effect was evident from the decrease in the onset of pentobarbitone sleeping time and increase in the duration of pentobarbitone sleeping time rats. The ethanol extract also demonstrated a significant decrease in the mortality rate induced by picrotoxin by about 66%, and a considerable reduction in the body weight of mice compared to the control groups.