Buniyamin A Ayinde1
,
Omonkhelin J Owolabi2,
Ifeyinwa S Uti3,
Muhammad I Choudhary3
For correspondence:- Buniyamin Ayinde Email: baayinde@uniben.edu Tel: +2347038708115
Published: 31 December 2017
Citation: Ayinde BA, Owolabi OJ, Uti IS, Choudhary MI. Evaluation of the antidiarrheal effects of the methanol extract of Waltheria indica L. (Sterculiaceae) leaves in albino mice and rats. J Sci Pract Pharm 2017; 4(1):145-151 doi: 10.47227/jsppharm.v4i1.1
© 2017 The author(s).
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Purpose: Waltheria indica is a medicinal plant used in ethnomedicine to control dysentery and diarrhea. This work was therefore carried out to evaluate the effects of the leaves on the gastrointestinal tract using animal models.
Methods: After phytochemical screening, the powdered leaves were extracted with methanol using a Soxhlet apparatus. The acute toxicity of the methanol extract (1-5 g/kg) was evaluated in mice. Using charcoal meal intestinal transit and castor oil induced diarrhea models, the effect of the extract (100-400 mg/kg) on intestinal motility was evaluated in mice and rats respectively. The extract (20-80 mg/mL) was further evaluated on Ach-induced ileum contraction.
Results: The leaves of W. indica tested positive to the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids and anthraquinones. Mice tolerated the extract up to 5.0 g/kg. The extract was observed to significantly (p < 0.05) reduce the motility of the charcoal meal in mice gastrointestinal tract. In the control animals, the charcoal moved up to 71.83 % of the intestine, whereas in the animals treated with 400 mg/kg, the movement was reduced to 42.87 % compared to 39.53 % in animals treated with atropine (0.1 mg/kg). In castor oil-induced diarrhea, the onset of stooling was 10 ± 1.0 min in the control animals after administration of the castor oil and 5.2 ± 0.9 wet stools were produced. The extract at 100 mg/kg delayed the onset of stooling to 62.33 ± 2.3 min; reduced the number of stools to 1.2 ± 0.6 while the animals treated with Loperamide (5.0 mg/kg) did not produce any stool. The extract significantly (p < 0.05) attenuated the ileum contraction produced by Ach in a concentration-dependent manner.
Conclusion: The results confirm the ethnomedicinal application of W. indica leaf in the management of diarrhea
