The Antidiarrheal Activities of Methanol extract of <em>Holarrhena Floribunda</em> on rodents

Abstract

The antidiarrheal activities of methanol extract of H.floribunda on rats were investigated using castor oil-induced diarrhea, small intestinal transit time and castor oil-induced fluid accumulation models. In the castor oil induced diarrhea theresults showed that the extract(110.22mg/kg)alone produced a mean fecal matter of 10.83±0.82 translating to 69.05% inhibition of the diarrhea .The percentage inhibition was significant[P?0.01]. When Yohimbine was combined with the extract, the mean fecal matter increased from 10.83±0.82 to 25.16±1.6 (28.11%) compared to control. This shows that Yohimbie, an ?2- adrenoceptor antagonist, antagonized the effect of the extract. The intestinal transit time significantly[P?0.01]decreased from 81.71±1.63 to 65.71±2.90 tranlating to 25.58% inhibition. As the dose of the extract increased from 36.74 to 110.22 mg/kg, the intestinal fluid accumulation decreased significantly[P?0.01] from 3.26±0.14 to1.55±0.10 translating to 13.75 to 58.99% reduction. Similarly, when Yohimbine was co-administered with the extract the intestinal fluid accumulation increased from1.55±0.10 (58.99%) to 1.88±0.13 (50.26%) fluid accumulation. The fact that Yohimine has antagonized the antidiarrheal effect of the extract suggests that the?2- adrenoceptor has a role to play in this antagonism. The percentage inhibition by Diphenoxylate, a standard antidiarrhea and a muscarinic blocker(67.14%) was higher than that of the combined doses of the extract (28.11%).Phytochemical analysis also shows that H.floribunda contain Phlobatanins, Flavonoids and alkaloids which might have also contributed to the antidiarrheal activities.