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Evaluation of Anacardium occidentale methanol leaf extracts in experimental diarrhoea of mice
Abstract
Oral administration of various doses (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) of methanol extracts of the leaves of Anacardium occidentale produced significant antidiarrhoeal activities in mice by reducing the number and frequency of defecation of wet faeces, reduction in intestinal weight and intraluminal fluid volume as well as reducing the intestinal transit in charcoal meal test when compared to diphenoxylate Hcl (5mg/kg, p.o.) control in a dose dependent manner. The highest dose (400 mg/kg) produced better antidiarrhoeal activity than the reference drug, diphenoxylate. Findings from the study reveal that Anacardium occidentale leaf extracts possess antidiarrhoeal principles validating its traditional use in the management of diarrhoea.
... The high content of saponins and flavonoids in this study slightly supported the works of Ezeigbo et al. 72 and Abubakar et al. 73 They reported that the anti-diarrhoeal activity of A. occidentale leaf might be due to the presence of flavonoids and saponins. It also agreed with Ranjith et al. 74 who reported the presence of flavonoids, saponins and terpenoids in A. occidentale leaf powder. ...
ABSTRACT
Anacardium occidentale is used ethno-medicinally in the treatment of cold, cough, toothaches, gum problems, sore throat, bronchitis, diarrhoea, dysentery, haemorrhoids, diabetes, malaria, rheumatism, arthritis, corns, leprosy and some skin ailments. However, there is dearth of information on their uses scientifically. Thus, this study investigated the phytochemical components, antimicrobial activity and toxicity of A. occidentale leaf extracts. The leaf of A. occidentale was extracted with methanol and consecutively fractionated using hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water. The methanol extract and fractions were quantitatively screened for phytochemical constituents and tested against selected microorganisms using standard procedures. Acute toxicity tests of the ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions were done on Wistar rats. The kidneys and livers of the rats were histologically examined. Anacardium occidentale methanol extract had the highest amount of phenolics (98.30 ± 0.15 gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g) while the ethyl acetate fraction had the highest amount of anthraquinones and cardiac glycosides. The butanol fraction had highest saponin and tannin contents, while the aqueous fraction had highest steroids, terpenoids and carotenoids contents. The inhibitory activity of the ethyl acetate fraction against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ranged from 15.0 mm to 19.0 mm inhibitory zone diameter at 100 mg/mL. The ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions were not toxic to the rats at 2,900 mg/kg dose. Consequently, A. occidentale leaf extracts were rich in phytochemicals, had antimicrobial activity and safe for use.
Keywords: Anacardium occidentale, phytochemical constituents, antimicrobial activity, acute toxicity.
... Atropin sulphate produces anticholinergic effect in the evaluation of intestinal transit time (Juliane et al., 2014) while the activated charcoal is capable of preventing the absorption of drugs and other chemicals into the body (Ezeigbo et al., 2013 andJanette, 2013). The suppressed intestinal propulsivemovement of the charcoal meal by the extract of H. incana suggests antidiarrheal activity of the plant (Yelaware et al.,2014).This may be due to the ability of the extract to increase the time for absorption of water and electrolytes in the manner similar to the action of atropinesulphate (Jafar et al., 2011 andLaudia et al., 2010). ...
Background: Diarrhea is recognized and documented as
one of the most important health problems, leading cause of
mortality and morbidity in the developing countries,
affecting mostly the children and infants. The various drug
treatments available for diarrhea include the conventional
drugs like loperamide, bismuth, subsalicylate and
racecadotril. Various side effects (such as abdominal
discomfort, dry mouth, nausea, constipation and headache)
attributed to these synthetic drugs have stimulated a rapid
and continuous growth of interest towards the use of herbal
medicine for the treatment of diarrhea. In spite of numerous
reports of herbal resources used traditionally in the
treatment of diarrhea, most of them have not been
scientifically validated for the claim because there is
paucity of literature on the phytochemical properties and
mechanisms of action of these plants. The aim of this
review is to delineate various plants used for the treatment
of diarrhea with their phytochemical properties and
mechanisms of action in experimental animal models.
Methods: Literature search on various medicinal plants
and mechanism of actions in the treatment of diarrhea was
done and their findings were reviewed.
Results: It was evident from the literatures that many of
these medicinal plants reviewed are potent antidiarrheal
agent due to their different phytoconstituents.
Conclusion: This information will create a center of
attention for scientists and consequently play a major role in
future research and documentation of herbal resources
inthetreatmentof diarrhea. However, Scientists are
therefore encouraged to find out the mechanisms through
whichmany these medicinal plants work.
... Phytochemical analysis of the extract reveals the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins and triterpenes while anthraquinones were absent. Moreover, previous research on A. occidentale reported that its antidiarrhoea activity may be due to the presence of flavonoids and saponins as reported in this study (Ezeigbo et al., 2013). ...
The leaf of Anacardium occidentale (family, Anacardiacea) is used traditionally in African folk medicine to manage, control or treat various human ailments, including diarrhoea. In this study, we examined the antidiarrhoea activity of crude aqueous and fractions of A. occidentale leave extract on experimentally induced diarrhoea in rats. Crude leave extract (100 to 400 mg/kg p.o) produced a dose dependent and significant protection of rats against castor oil induced diarrhoea. Similar test was conducted on the diethyl ether, aqueous, saponin and flavonoid fractions of A. occidentale leave extract in which case the flavonoid and saponins portions showed better antidiarrhoea activity. The active fractions (flavonoid and saponins) were further evaluated using the charcoal meal test and the flavonoid portion showed a 68.5% inhibition of GIT motility while the saponins portion produced a 38% inhibition at doses of 400 mg/kg respectively. Based on the findings, the aqueous leaf extract of this plant may possess anti-diarrhoeal properties and validates its use in traditional medicine for the treatment of diarrhoea.
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