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Evaluation of the Antidiarrhoeal Property and Safety of Ethanolic Extract of Ficus Benjamina ‘Variegata’ Fruits in Wistar Rats
Abstract
Background and Objectives: There is an age long folkloric claim that Ficus benjamina fruits could be used as an antidiarrhoeal agent. Up till this time, there has not been any scientific report on the acclaimed use. Therefore, the efficacy of the ethanolic extract of Ficus benjamina ‘variegata’ fruit as an antidiarrhoeal agent as well as the safety of the extract was evaluated in wistar rats.
Methods: Twenty albino rats were assigned into 4 groups: A - D (5 rats per group) in each of the experiment. Animals in group A were administered 1ml of distilled water while those in groups B,C, D were treated like the distilled water control except they received 2.5mg/kg Loperamide, 625 and 1250 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. The antidiarrhoeal activity of the extract was evaluated using two standard models: castor oil-induced diarrhoea and gastrointestinal transit motility. The safety/ toxicity risk was evaluated by determining the activity of some ‘marker’ enzymes of the small intestine, liver and serum of the animals.
Result: The ethanolic extract of F. benjamina significantly (p<0.05) prolonged the time of diarrhoea induction and reduced the frequency of diarrhoea episodes in the castor oil induced diarrhoea model. Furthermore, there was significant decrease in the propulsion of charcoal meal through the gastrointestinal tract. These finding compared favourably (P > 0.05) with the reference drug (loperamide) – treated animals. Toxicological studies revealed that the extract significantly reduced the activities of Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Acid phosphatase (ACP) in both the small intestine and serum of the animals whereas the activities of Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) in the liver and serum as well as the computed liver and small intestine – body weight ratio.
Conclusion: Overall, the ethanolic extract of F. benjamina fruit possesses antidiarrhoeal activity at the tested doses. However, the extract at the doses investigated may not be completely safe.
Methods: Twenty albino rats were assigned into 4 groups: A - D (5 rats per group) in each of the experiment. Animals in group A were administered 1ml of distilled water while those in groups B,C, D were treated like the distilled water control except they received 2.5mg/kg Loperamide, 625 and 1250 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. The antidiarrhoeal activity of the extract was evaluated using two standard models: castor oil-induced diarrhoea and gastrointestinal transit motility. The safety/ toxicity risk was evaluated by determining the activity of some ‘marker’ enzymes of the small intestine, liver and serum of the animals.
Result: The ethanolic extract of F. benjamina significantly (p<0.05) prolonged the time of diarrhoea induction and reduced the frequency of diarrhoea episodes in the castor oil induced diarrhoea model. Furthermore, there was significant decrease in the propulsion of charcoal meal through the gastrointestinal tract. These finding compared favourably (P > 0.05) with the reference drug (loperamide) – treated animals. Toxicological studies revealed that the extract significantly reduced the activities of Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Acid phosphatase (ACP) in both the small intestine and serum of the animals whereas the activities of Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) and Gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) in the liver and serum as well as the computed liver and small intestine – body weight ratio.
Conclusion: Overall, the ethanolic extract of F. benjamina fruit possesses antidiarrhoeal activity at the tested doses. However, the extract at the doses investigated may not be completely safe.
