The Roots of Neorautanenia mitis (A. Rich) Verdcourt: Further Evidence of Its Antidiarrhoeal Activity

Abstract

Despite the current management options and therapeutics used in the treatment of diarrhoea, in Africa and Asia, diarrhoea remains a major concern, especially in children under the age of 5 years. Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants used in the management of diarrhoea symptoms can be explored for their efficacy. In Nigeria, the TMPs (Traditional Medicine Practitioners) have, over the years, employed medicinal plants in the management of diarrhoea symptoms. In our current and previous studies, we aimed at validating the effectiveness of Neorautanenia mitis in the management of diarrhoea as claimed by the TMPs. Out of the 20 compounds isolated from N. mitis, the compounds neodulin, pachyrrhizine, neotenone and dolineone were the most abundant, and in this study, neodulin showed a pronounced relaxation of the rhythmic contraction of the isolated rabbit jejunum in an organ bath in a concentration-dependent manner, with a complete relaxation at 60 µg/mL. Neotenone and dolineone showed a dose-dependent inhibition of defecation of 65.07%, and 50.01%, respectively, at 20 mg/kg in a castor-oil-induced diarrhoea model. This is a strong indication that compounds from N. mitis possess antidiarrhoeal properties, thereby giving credence to its traditional usage in diarrhoea therapy, and therefore validating its antidiarrhoeal activity and its being worthy of further investigation.