Detarium senegalense JF Gmelin stem bark aqueous extract was investigated for its phytochemical contents as well as its anti-diarrhoea effects. The aqueous extract which is normally used in folkloric medicine was subjected to phytochemical screening. Graded doses of the extract (100, 200 and 400 mg per kg) were administered orally to three groups of rats (n = 5) before induction of diarrhoea with castor oil. Another two groups of animals were treated with normal saline (control) and diphenoxylate, a conventional anti-diarrhoea drug respectively. In two separate experiments, gastro-intestinal transits of charcoal meal and gastro-intestinal enteropooling with the same graded doses of the aqueous extracts were used for comparison. The extract produced a significant inhibition of the castor oil induced diarrhoea in the animals. The gastro-intestinal transit of charcoal meal was also reduced by the various doses used in this study. However, the intestinal fluid accumulation was only slightly reduced especially by 400 mg/kg dose of the extract. The aqueous extract alone dose dependently reduced the contractile amplitude of the jejunal tissue. The aqueous extract also decreased the contractile amplitude of isolated jejunal segment exposed to 0.2 ml of 10 µg/ml of acetylcholine. Phytochemical analysis of the stem bark extract revealed the presence of secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes and steroids, saponins and glycosides. The findings suggest that, the aqueous stem bark extract of D. senegalense possesses antidiarrhoeal effect, which could be related to inhibition of gastro-intestinal motility and secretion.
Key words: Diarrhoea, Detarium senegalense, Diphenoxylate, Enteropooling, intestinal transit
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