Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Chromatographic Fractions of Stereospermum kunthianum Cham Sandrine Petit (Bignoniaceae) Stem Bark

F P Ching¹ , S O Okpo², A Falodun³, EKI Omogbai²

¹Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa; ²Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology; ³Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

For correspondence:- F Ching Email: fidelching@yahoo.ca

Received: 9 May 2009 Accepted: 11 September 2009 Published: 21 December 2009

Citation: Ching FP, Okpo SO, Falodun A, Omogbai E. Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Chromatographic Fractions of Stereospermum kunthianum Cham Sandrine Petit (Bignoniaceae) Stem Bark. Trop J Pharm Res 2009; 8(6):515-519 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v8i6.6

© 2009 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: The present study was undertaken in order to evaluate the antidiarrhoeal activity of three chromatographic fractions (L, S and Y) of Stereospermum kunthianum stem bark in mice.

Methods: Vacuum liquid/column chromatography (VLC/ CC) were used to obtain three fractions (L,S and Y) of Stereospermum kunthianum stem bark fractions. The antidiarrhoeal activities of these fractions at doses ranging from 100 – 400 mg/kg were evaluated in diarrhoea episodes induced by castor oil in mice. The controls were given distilled water (10 ml/kg) while 10 mg/kg of morphine was used as the reference drug (positive control).

Results: Pretreatment of mice with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of fraction L significantly (p < 0.05) delayed the onset of diarrhoea compared with the distilled water-treated mice. Fraction L at the dose of 400 mg/kg significantly reduced the number of wet stools in the treated mice. Fraction S at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg dose-dependently and significantly delayed the onset of diarrhoea in the treated mice. At the dose of 400 mg/kg, fraction S significantly reduced the number of wet stools and total number of stools as well as the total weight of wet and total weight of stools, compared to the distilled water-treated mice. Fraction Y at the three doses significantly delayed the onset of diarrhoea in the treated mice.

Conclusion: Vacuum liquid/column chromatography (VLC/CC) derived fractions L, S and Y of Stereospermum kunthianum possessed antidiarrhoeal activity but to varying degrees. This study lends further credence to the ethnomedicinal use of the plant for the treatment of diarrhoea.

Keywords: Antidiarrhoeal activity, chromatographic fractions, Stereospermum kunthianum, stools