Objective: This work was aimed at formulating artesunate tablets with hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)-a hydrophilic polymer for the purpose of achieving a sustained release profile of the drug and evaluating their properties. Methods:The solubility profile of artesunate was determined in water, methanol, ethanol, ethanol/water mixtures (50/50, 40/60 v/v), simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) without enzymes (pH 7, 7.2 and 8), simulated gastric fluid (SGF) without enzymes (pH 1.2), 0.1N hydrochloric acid (HCI), 0.1N sodium hydroxide (NaOH), 0.1N acetic acid and phosphate buffer solution, PBS (pH 7, 7.2 and 8). Four batches of oral sustained release artesunate tablets intended for once-daily dosing were formulated with 10%, 20%, 25% and 30% w/w concentrations of HPMC using wet granulation method. Evaluation of granule properties was done by determining the angle of repose, flow rate, bulk density, tapped density, Carr's index and Hausner's quotient. The compressed tablets were also evaluated using official and non-official parameters. Absolute drug contents were determined in 0.1N NaOH, ethanol and methanol. In vitro release was studied in different media and release kinetics mechanism elucidated. In vivo studies were carried out using healthy Wistar rats. Results:Artesunate was observed to exhibit solubility at varying degrees depending on solvents or media employed as well as the pH of the media. All the granule batches have Hausner's quotient value of approximately 1.2. The values for Carr's index for all the batches ranged between 30 and 40. The angle of repose, Carr's index and Hausner's quotient values indicate good flow properties of the granules for all the batches. All the tablet batches conformed to official standard in terms of weight uniformity as no single tablet deviated beyond 5% from the average weight in each batch with no significant difference in the values (p>0.05). Values of hardness increased insignificantly from batches A to D (p>0.05). Friability values were very low and follows no specific pattern among the batches but the difference in the values was significant (p<0.05). Absolute drug content reduced while in vitro release times increased as hardness increased, indicating the probable progressive reduction in the tendency of the matrix to release the drug as the concentration of HPMC increased from batches A to D. n values obtained from analysis of release mechanism were above 0.89 for each batch. Conclusion:The release mechanism was shown to be complex and the release involved zero order, first order, and Higuchi model kinetics. The biological half-life of artesunate was shown to be 1.05 hr, and metabolites which bear resemblance to artesunate in absorbance seem to be encountered. In this work, HPMC matrix yielded high-quality tablets indicating its usefulness in sustained released product development.

This paper examined the impact of financial integration on economic growth in Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries over the period 1993–2013. Using the Panel ARDL PMG Model developed by Pesaran and Shin, other control variables (trade openness, inflation, government expenditure, and institutional quality) were captured in the model. It was found that there is a significant and positive impact of financial integration on economic growth in the ECOWAS region in the long run. Whereas, even after controlling for necessary variables, financial integration exacerbates negative and insignificant effects in determining economic growth in the SADC region, both in the short run and long run. The insignificant and negative impact of financial integration on the region’s economic growth was attributed to several possible factors, including the low level of financial development in the SADC region, which is unconnected with the poor level of governance, unstable and fragile financial stability, or low creditworthiness, that are prevalent in developing countries like those in SADC countries. The findings suggest, amongst others, that increasing financial integration could improve the productive capacity of the economy, including more investments and the efficient allocation of capital, thus enhancing economic growth in these regions. This paper sheds new insights on a better evaluation of the past and present theorizing on the subjects of financial integration and economic growth, especially in comparing the separate effects on the economies of the SADC and ECOWAS countries.