Anti-diarrhea activity of the aqueous root bark extract of on castor oil-induced diarrhea in Wistar rats.

AIM

The use of traditional medicine as an alternative source of cure for many ailments has played an important role in health care delivery in both developing and developed countries. Schum and Thonn () is used in traditional medicine for treatment of various disease conditions, including diarrhea. The anti-diarrhea activity of the root bark aqueous extract of was investigated in this study.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Acute toxicity evaluation of the aqueous extract of root bark was performed in exposed rats. Diarrhea was induced in exposed rats with castor oil, and the effect of the extract on castor oil-induced gastrointestinal motility and enteropooling was consequently investigated.

RESULTS

In the acute toxicity study, the extract caused no death in treated rats nor produced signs of delayed toxicity, even at 5000 mg/kg. The aqueous root bark extract of also decreased the distance travelled by activated charcoal in the gastrointestinal tract of treated rats when compared to control rats. Results of castor oil-induced enteropooling revealed slight reduction in the weight of intestinal contents of treated rats compared to control rats. There was significant (p<0.05) decrease in the frequency of defecation as well as in the number of unformed feces produced by castor oil-induced diarrhea at 100 mg/kg dose with 74.96% inhibition of defecation.

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrated the anti-diarrheic property of the aqueous extract of root bark as currently exploited in our traditional herbal therapy.