Anti-spasmolytic and Anti-diarrheal Activities of Newbouldia laevis, Cola nitida and Acanthus montanus Extracts on Gastrointestinal Muscles

Abstract

Background and Objective: In developing countries, diarrhea is the leading cause of death in children. Several medicinal plants have been implicated in treatment of diarrhea. The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-spasmolytic and anti-diarrhea properties of ethnomedicinal plants Newbouldia laevis, Cola nitida and Acanthus montanus. Materials and Methods: Forty male rats were divided into 8 groups of 5 rats each. About 1 mL castor oil was administered to the animals in each group to induce diarrhea. An hour later group 1 was administered 2 mL normal saline orally. Group 2 received 1 mg kg-1 Atropine (i.p). Group 3 and 4 received 400 and 800 mg kg-1 b.wt., of A. montanus leaf ext. Group 5 and 6 received 400 and 800 mg kg-1 of C. nitida leaf ext. while group 7 and 8 received 400 and 800 mg kg-1 of N. laevis leaf ext. Thirty minutes later, 10 mL kg-1 of activated charcoal meal was administered orally. Animals were sacrificed by suffocation in chloroform chamber after 30 min. Data anal. was carried out with SPSS using one-way anal. of variance (ANOVA). Results: The results showed a significant (p<0.05) relaxation of rabbit jejunum smooth muscles in a dose dependent manner in all the three plants. In the in vivo study, an oral administration of A. montanus and C. nitida exts. at 400 and 800 mg kg-1 dose exhibited slightly lesser inhibition of movement of charcoal meal in the rat's gastrointestinal tract (GIT) than that of the std. drug atropine. In contrary, N. laevis provoked more inhibition than that of the std. drug atropine. Like atropine, the three exts. significantly (p<0.05) blocked the contractile effect of acetylcholine. The aforementioned results clearly demonstrate that N. laevis showed the highest activity in terms of both the in vivo and the in vitro model. Conclusion: The results therefore indicate that the exts. may possess possible anticholinergic properties and may prove valuable in disease management including diarrhea muscular spasms and other related diseases. [on SciFinder(R)]