An investigation into the anti-diarrhoeal effects of aqueous and ethanol stem bark extracts of Alchornea cordifolia in wistar rats

Abstract

This study investigated the anti-diarrhoeal effect of aqueous and ethanol bark extract of Alchornea cordifolia on castor oil-induced diarrhoeal; gastrointestinal motility; and enteropooling. The results revealed that, compared with the positive control (loperamide-treated) group which showed the most reduction in mean weight of stool, the 400 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of both extracts also elicited dose dependent reduction in the mean weight of stool, with the 400 mg/kg body weight of the aqueous extract causing greater reduction than the other extracts doses. The anti-motility effect and percentage inhibitive effect was also shown to be greater in the loperamide-treated group, compared to the ethanol and aqueous extract-treated groups, which demonstrated a dose-dependent effect. The intestinal volume (enteropooling) was equally found to be most markedly increased in the positive control (atropine-treated) groups followed by a dose-dependent fashion in the 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg doses of the ethanol and aqueous stem bark extracts treated groups. Thus, the study showed that the aqueous and ethanol stem bark extracts of Alchornea cordifolia possess anti-diarrhoeal properties.