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Antidiarrhoeal activity
of aqueous extract of Combretum sericeum roots
in rats
Sini, J. M.*, Umar, I. A., Anigo, K. M., Stantcheva, I.
Bage, E. N. and Mohammed, R.
Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
Nigeria.
*Corresponding author.
E-mail:mathias_sini@yahoo.com. Tel: 08053483388.
Accepted
23 July, 2008 |
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The
antidiarrhoeal activity of aqueous extract of Combretum
sericeum roots was evaluated in rats. Studies were
carried out on castor oil induced diarrhea, gastrointestinal
motility and castor oil induced fluid accumulation. The
extract (25 and 50 mg/kg) causes a dose dependent protection
against castor oil induced diarrhea and castor oil induced
fluid accumulation and decreased markedly gastrointestinal
transit. The intraperitoneal LD50 of the extract
was found to be 177.48 mg/kg in mice. A preliminary
phytochemical screening of the aqueous extract of C.
sericeum roots revealed the presence of tannins,
flavonoids, glycosides, anthraquinones and alkaloids. The
results obtained showed that the water extract of C.
sericeum roots may be active against diarrhea and this
may be the basis for its use traditionally for
gastrointestinal disorders.
Key
words:
Combretum sericeum, diarrhea, gastrointestinal tract
and tannins. |
