Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dilla University, Ethiopia.
Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2017 Apr 18;202:114-121. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2017.01.015. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
Diuretics are drugs that increase the formation of urine and are important for the treatment of various diseases including hypertension and edema. The root decoction of Euclea divinorum has been used as a diuretic agent in the traditional medicine. Therefore, this study was aimed to evaluate the diuretic activity of the crude extracts of the roots of Euclea divinorum in Sprague Dawley rats.
The aqueous extract (AE) and 80% methanol extract (80ME) of the plant were prepared using decoction and maceration, respectively. Vehicle (distilled water, 10ml/kg), standard drug (hydrochlorothiazide, 10mg/kg) and three doses (100mg/kg, 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg) of the AE and 80ME were given to male rats by oral gavage. Parameters like urine volume (for 5h), electrolyte concentration and pH were measured (at 5 h) and analyzed. Data were analyzed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey post hoc test. Linear regression was also applied to show the dose dependency nature of the diuretic effect.
The result indicated that the 80ME of the plant significantly (p<0.05) produced diuresis at 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg. Furthermore, the AE produced significant diuresis (p<0.05) at all doses. With regard to the electrolyte excretion, the AE produced significant natriuresis and kaliuresis at all tested doses (p<0.001), while the 80ME showed significant natriuresis and kaliuresis at 200mg/kg (p<0.01) and 400mg/kg (p<0.001). Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of secondary metabolites, including saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, steroids, tannins and terpinoids in both extracts. These constituents might be responsible for the diuretic activity of Euclea divinorum. Both extracts were also found to be safe at 2000mg/kg on the acute toxicity study.
This finding provides a scientific support for the acclaimed traditional use of the roots of Euclea divinorum as a diuretic agent.
利尿剂是增加尿液形成的药物，对治疗高血压和水肿等各种疾病非常重要。Euclea divinorum 的根被传统医学用作利尿剂。因此，本研究旨在评估 Euclea divinorum 根的粗提取物在 Sprague Dawley 大鼠中的利尿活性。
使用煎煮法和浸渍法分别制备植物的水提取物 (AE) 和 80%甲醇提取物 (80ME)。将载体（蒸馏水，10ml/kg）、标准药物（氢氯噻嗪，10mg/kg）和 AE 的三个剂量（100mg/kg、200mg/kg 和 400mg/kg）和 80ME 经口给予雄性大鼠。在 5 小时时测量（并分析）尿量（5 小时）、电解质浓度和 pH 值。使用单向方差分析 (ANOVA) 进行数据分析，然后进行 Tukey 事后检验。还应用线性回归来显示利尿作用的剂量依赖性。
结果表明，植物的 80ME 在 200mg/kg 和 400mg/kg 时显著（p<0.05）产生利尿作用。此外，AE 在所有剂量下均产生显著的利尿作用（p<0.05）。就电解质排泄而言，AE 在所有测试剂量下均产生显著的利钠和利钾作用（p<0.001），而 80ME 在 200mg/kg（p<0.01）和 400mg/kg 时显示出显著的利钠和利钾作用（p<0.001）。初步的植物化学筛选表明，两种提取物均含有包括皂苷、黄酮类、糖苷、甾体、单宁和萜类在内的次生代谢物。这些成分可能是 Euclea divinorum 利尿活性的原因。在急性毒性研究中，两种提取物在 2000mg/kg 时也被发现是安全的。
这一发现为 Euclea divinorum 根被传统医学用作利尿剂的公认用途提供了科学依据。
