Antidiarrheal activity of Pterocarpus erinaceus methanol leaf extract in experimentally-induced diarrhea

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the antidiarrheal activity of the methanol leaf extract of Pterocarpus erinaceus in vivo.@*METHODS@#The methanol leaf extract of Pterocarpus erinaceus was evaluated using different doses (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight) orally for antidiarrheal activity using castor oil-induced diarrhea, charcoal meal transit time and castor oil-induced enteropooling in different groups of albino Wistar mice. The activity of the extract at different doses were compared to diphenoxylate (5 mg/kg) and atropine sulphate (3 mg/kg) which were used as standard reference drugs and also to the distilled water administered negative control group of mice.@*RESULTS@#The extract at the doses used caused a significant (P< 0.01) reduction in the wet faeces passed by the mice in the castor oil-induced diarrhea, decreased the distance travelled by the charcoal meal by up to 54.8% and also caused a dose dependent and significant (P< 0.001) reduction in the intraluminal fluid accumulation in the castor oil-induced enteropooling.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Our results indicate that Pterocarpus erinaceus extract produced significant antidiarrheal activity and the action may attribute to inhibition of gastrointestinal movement and fluid secretion.