Effect ofAframomum melegueta. Seed Extract on Castor Oil–Induced Diarrhea

Abstract

The effect of the aqueous (aq) seed extract of Aframomum melegueta. K. Schum. (Zingiberaceae) on castor oil-induced diarrhea, intestinal fluid secretion, and gastrointestinal transit was investigated in the study. Castor oil (10 ml/kg, p.o.) induced copious diarrhea in all rats 3 h after treatment. Furthermore, it produced a significant increase in the volume of intestinal fluid secretion in rats and also enhanced intestinal transit in mice. The aq seed extract of A. melegueta. (100-500 mg/kg, p.o.) offered significant protection against diarrhea induced by the oil. At a dose range of 250-500 mg/kg, the extract reduced significantly the volume of fluid secretion in castor oil-treated rats. At these doses, it also demonstrated a significant antitransit activity in a dose-related manner. Acetylsalicylic acid (100 mg/kg, p.o.) delayed diarrhea and reduced the number of animals with diarrheal droppings to 20%. At the same dose level, acetylsalicylic acid reduced significantly the volume of intestinal fluid secretion but lacked antitransit property in castor oil-treated animals. N.-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) (2.5-10 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently reduced the number of animals with diarrhea. At 50 mg/kg i.p., it offered 100% protection against diarrhea induced by the oil. Furthermore, L-NAME (10 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly inhibited both the intestinal fluid secretion and gastrointestinal transit induced by castor oil. However, L-NAME (10 mg/kg, i.p.) did not significantly modify the antidiarrheal effect of A. melegueta.. L-Arginine, a substrate of nitric oxide synthase or isosorbide dinitrate, a nitric oxide donor, did not alter the effect of A. melegueta. on diarrhea. Ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg, p.o.) and α.-tocopherol (20 mg/kg, p.o.) reduced the number of animals with diarrhea to 80% and 70%, respectively. However, they both lacked significant activities on intestinal fluid secretion and gastrointestinal transit induced by castor oil. The combination of ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg, p.o.) or α.-tocopherol (20 mg/kg, p.o.) with A. melegueta. (500 mg/kg) offered higher protection against diarrhea than the extract alone. Considering these results together, it may be inferred that Aframomum melegueta. seed extract may be a useful antidiarrheal agent.

Medicinal plants used as excipients in the history in Ghanaian herbal medicine

“…Pharmacological activities of seeds of A. melegueta reported in the literature are: analgesic (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2007b), repellant (Ukeh et al, 2009), gastro-protective (Rafatullah et al, 1995), central nervous system depressant activity (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2005b), sexual stimulant (Kamtchouing et al, 2002;Mbongue et al, 2012), antibacterial (Doherty et al, 2010;Konning et al, 2004;Sonibare et al, 2011), antifungal (Konning et al, 2004), anti-estrogenic (El-Halawany et al, 2011, reducing cell proliferation and cell growth of tumor cells (Gismondi et al, 2013), antioxidant (Adefegha and Oboh, 2012a;Kazeem et al, 2012), weight gain reduction (Inegbenebor et al, 2009;Sugita et al, 2013;Suzuki et al, 2009), efflux pump inhibition in mycobacteria (Groblacher et al, 2012), antimycobacterial (Galal, 1996) antidiabetic (Ilic et al, 2010), inhibition of CYP3A4, 3A5 and 3A7 (Agbonon et al, 2010), anti-hypertensive (Lawal et al, 2007) and antidiarrheal (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2005a).…”

Further pharmacological studies on aqueous seed extract of Aframomum melegueta in rats

“…Gingerol, another important active compound, isolated from the seed of this plant, was shown to inhibit prostaglandin and leukotriene biosynthesis (Kiuchi et al, 1992). In our previous studies, we had reported the anti-diarrhoeal (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2003), anti-inflammatory (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2005a), central nervous system (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2005b) and analgesic (Umukoro and Ashorobi, 2007) effects of the aqueous seed extract of Aframomum melegueta. The widespread uses of Aframomum melegueta seed by the traditional medical practitioners in West Africa to treat inflammatory disorders, led us to further examine its effects on events associated with inflammatory processes such as leukocytes migration and phenylhydrazine-treated rat red blood cells.…”

Identification of vanilloid compounds in grains of paradise and their effects on sympathetic nerve activity

“…Therefore the pharmacological action of the plant has not yet been well studied. A number of pharmacological studies involving the spice have reported that the pungent principles included in GP have antifeedant, antiseptic, molluscicidal, 10 hepatoprotective 11 and antidiarrheal 12 activities and can induce apoptosis in leukemia (HL-60) cells. 13 In addition to these effective properties, we previously demonstrated that the daily intake of GP daily decreased body weight gain and hepatic and serum fats in mice.…”