Effect of Extracts From Two Artemisia Species: Artemisia afra and Artemisia Rehan on Isolated Smooth Muscle Tissues in Vitro
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Date
2014-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of dried leaf and root of Artemisia crlm and Artemisia rehall
were tested on isolated mouse duodenum, guinea pig ileum and mouse uterine strips ill vitro.
The potential spasmolytic (relaxant) and spasmogenic (contractile) effect of the plants were
studied in these smooth muscle tissue preparations. Different concentrations of each extract of
the plants (ranging from 20-200 ~g/ml) were tried out in the presence of agonist controls,
ACh (in MD and MU) and histamine (in GPI) as contraction stimulators. A positive
antagonist control, papaverine was used as a smooth muscle relaxant in GPI. In most of the
ethanolic extracts, there were significant dose-dependent reductions of ACh and histamineinduced
contractions in both tissues (P < 0.05). Both spontaneous rhythmic and agonistinduced
contractions of lvID and GPI were greatly reduced by ALE (56% and 35%
respectively) and RLE (65% and 56% respectively) at maximal dosages, which suggests
spasmolytic property ofthe crude extracts. All the extracts (200 ~lg/ml) except ALE and RLE
were less potent than papaverine (I.5 ~lg/ml) in the experiment of GPI. Neither the aqueous
nor ethanol extracts of the two plant species caused significant contractile or relaxant effects
on MU. All in all, the results in the present study pinpoint that the plants may possess
spasmolytic as well as spasmogenic propelties based upon the appropriate use of extractive
solvent. The results also support the traditional folk use of the aerial and root parts of the
plants more often for stomach pains and intestinal cramps than for fertility control purposes.
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Biology