Evaluation of antidiarrheal activity of aqueous and 80% methanol seed extract of Calpurnia aurea- Benth (fabaceae) in mice
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2019-11
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Calpurnia aurea B. is one of the medicinal plants claimed to have antidiarrheal potential, but with limited scientific evidence. This study was aimed at investigating the antidiarrheal and antibacterial activity of aqueous and 80% methanol seed extracts of the plant in mice and selected diarrhea causing bacterial strains. The antidiarrheal activity was evaluated using castor oil induced diarrheal model, prostaglandin induced anti-enteropooling and castor oil induced charcoal meal test in mice of either sex, while antibacterial activity was assessed on Shigella soni, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using disk diffusion and micro-dilution techniques. The in vivo test groups received a graded dose (60, 120 and 240 mg/kg) of both aqueous and 80% methanol seed extract, whereas positive controls received loperamide (3 mg/kg) and negative controls received distilled water (10 ml/kg). Pretreatment of mice at the stated doses caused a significant reduction in frequency of wet stools and watery content of diarrhea as well as in delaying onset of diarrhea as compared to controls. Both extracts showed a dose-dependent inhibition in all models used. The extracts also showed significant (p<0.05) inhibition in intestinal motility in castor oil induced models. In addition, both extracts exhibited variable activity against the selected bacterial strains; a better effect was seen with 80% methanol seed extract. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study suggest that both aqueous and 80% methanol seed extracts of Calpurnia aurea have beneficial effect in controlling diarrhea through antisecretory and antimotility activites, with marginal antibacterial activity, lending support to the traditional use of the plant for the same purpose.
Description
Keywords
Antidiarrheal activity, Castor oil induced diarrhea, Gastrointestinal transit, Anti-enteropooling, Calpurnia aurea