ISSN 2756-3413
African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 3421-7347 Vol. 10 (4), pp. 001-005, April, 2016. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Antidiarrhoeal activity of Ziziphus mauritiana root extract in rodents
Dahiru, D.1*, Sini J. M1 and John-Africa L.2
1Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, P.M.B. 2076, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria.
2National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abuja, Nigeria.
Accepted 13 April, 2015
Abstract
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the root extract of Ziziphus mauritiana revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins and volatile oil. Intraperitoneal LD50 of the extract was found to be 447.21 ± 20 mg/kg (bw) in mice. The Antidiarrhoeal effect of the methanolic extract as evaluated exhibited a concentration dependent inhibition of the spontaneous pendular movement of the isolated rabbit jejunum and inhibited acetylcholine induced contraction of rat ileum. A dose dependent decrease of gastrointestinal transit was observed with extracts (25 and 50 mg/kg) which also protected mice against castor oil induced dirrhoea and castor oil induced fluid accumulation, respectively. The presence of some of the phytochemicals in the root extract may be responsible for the observed effects, and also the basis for its use in traditional medicine as antidiarrhoeal drug.
Key words: Ziziphus mauritiana, antidiarrhoeal activity, castor oil, rodents.