BAIRAGI, Shripad Motilal University of Pune - MES College of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmacology, India , AHER, Abhijeet Ashok University of Pune - MES College of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmaceutics, India , NEMA, Nitin Dr. H.S. Gaur Central University - Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, India , PATHAN, Inayat Bashir Government College of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmaceutics, India

Evaluation of Anti-Diarrhoeal Activity of the Leaves Extract of Ficus Microcarpa L. (Moraceae)

18779

The aim of present study was to investigate the anti-diarrheal activity of Ficus microcarpa against experimentally induced diarrhea in rats. Albino rats were used for the experiment. Anti-diarrheal activity was determined by castor oil induced diarrhea. The extract of the bark administered orally at a dose 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg. The extract of Ficus microcarpa produced a marked anti-diarrheal effect in rats. Both doses of extract significantly decreased (P 0.05) the total number of wet feces produced by administration of castor oil (4.31 at the dose of 300 mg/kg and 7.16 at the dose of 600 mg/kg) as compared to the castor oil treated control group (20.75). The Ficus microcarpa extract was found to possess an anti-enteropooling activity. Oral administration of castor oil produced a significant increase (P 0.05) in the intestinal fluid (3.14 ml) as compared to the normal rat (1.29 ml). The extract when given orally one hour before castor oil, significantly inhibited (P 0.05) the enteropooling; 1.48 ml (300mg/kg) and 1.68 ml (600mg/kg). The results revealed that the extract inhibited the small intestinal motility of the charcoal marker in the rats by 23.92-31.12% whereas the inhibition was noted to be 61.2% in the case of treatment by loperamide. The results of this investigation conclude that the extract contains pharmacologically active substances with anti-diarrheal properties. Further research is to be carried out to fractionate and purify the extract, in order to find the molecules responsible for the anti-diarrheal activity.

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Anti , diarrheal activity , Ficus Microcarpa , Castor oil , Methanolic extract

Journal of Research in Pharmacy

138