Antibacterial and antidiarrheal activity of Simarouba amara (Aubl.) bark

The present study was conducted to determine the nutritional elements in Simarouba amara (Aubl.) bark aqueousextract (SAAE) by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and the in vitroantibacterial activity against pathogens enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcous aureus,Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by agar well diffusion, minimum inhibitory, and bactericidalconcentration. Then, antidiarrheal effect was studied on castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice model. Recorded Mg > Fe> Cu > Zn elements in SAAE invariably found to be effective against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.Effective concentration of bark showed the zone of inhibition against enterotoxigenic E. coli (200 mg/ml), S. typhiand S. aureus (300 mg/ml), and P. aeruginosa and K. pneumonia (100 mg/ml). The standard ratio between minimuminhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) was meticulously recorded “one”against all pathogens, which confirms the bactericidal property. Results in mice model prominently showed that SAAEsignificantly (p < 0.05) reduced the frequency and number of diarrheal episodes, intestinal fluid accumulation, andintestinal transit time in dose-dependent manner. Inordinate delay in charcoal movement in the intestine positivelyconfirmed the antispasmodic effect by reducing propulsive movement. Confirmed findings in this study naturallysuggested that SAAE could be an effective antibacterial and antidiarrheal formulation.

Antidiarrheal activity of flowers of Ixora Coccinea Linn. in rats.

Ixora coccinea Linn (Rubiaceae), a small shrub cultivated throughout India, has been reported to possess a number of medicinal properties. It has traditionally been used for the treatment of diarrhea and dysentery. However the claims of Ayurveda have to be validated by suitable experimental models. The present study was therefore undertaken to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of I. coccinea for its antidiarrheal potential against several experimental models of diarrhea in albino Wistar rats. Here, we report the effects of aqueous extracts of flowers of I. coccinea in the castor oil induced diarrhea model. The gastrointestinal transit rate was expressed as the percentage of the longest distance traversed by charcoal divided by the total length of the small intestine. Weight and volume of intestinal content induced by castor oil were studied by the enteropooling method. Loperamide was used as a positive control. The plant-extract showed significant (P<0.001) inhibitor activity against castor oil induced diarrhea and castor oil induced enteropooling in rats at the dose of 400 mg/kg. There was also significant reduction in gastrointestinal motility in the charcoal meal test. Results obtained in this study substantiate the antidiarrheal effect of the aqueous extract and its use by traditional practitioners in the treatment of diarrhea.