Anti-diarrhoeal properties of the ethanol extract of Terminalia glaucescens roots on castor oil-induced diarrhoea in wistar rats

Abstract

Terminalia glaucescens (family Combretaceae) is an indigenous tropical plant in Africa whose leaves are used in ethnomedicine for the management of dysentery, diabetes and microbial infections. The study evaluated the potentials of Terminalia glaucescens root extract for the management of diarrhoea using standard experimental animal model. The extract was evaluated for its acute toxicity (with 18 mice), phytochemical compositions and anti-diarrhoeal properties. Diarrhoea was induced with castor oil (1 mL) orally. Anti-diarrhoeal property of the extract was carried out in four (4) study protocols: Curative, Preventive, gastrointestinal motility test and enteropooling test. No death was recorded in animals that received extract up to 5000 mg/kg body weight. Phytochemical analyses recorded the presence of saponins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols and steroids. Preventive and curative studies showed significant reduction (p < 0.05) in number and frequency of wet stool in animals treated with the extract at all doses, except at 100 mg/kg body weight for curative studies (non-significant reduction; p > 0.05), relative to untreated controls. Also, administration of the extract to experimental animals significantly reduced (p < 0.05) distance travelled by charcoal meal (gastrointestinal motility) and volume of intestinal content at all doses relative to the untreated control. The extract at 400 mg/kg body weight compared favorably with the standard drug (Loperamide). The study highlighted the ethanol extract of the roots of Terminalia glaucescens as a promising and potent remedy for the ethnomedicinal management of diarrhoea.