Chitosan Loaded Mucoadhesive Microspheres of Gliclazide - Journal

RGUHS Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Aqueous Extract of Mimosa pudica Leaves
Md. Saifuddin Khalid*, Shah Jinesh Kumar, Suresh D.K, Rajnish Kumar Singh, Reddy Narasimha I.V and
Shaikh Azhar Hussain
A B S T R A C T
Dept. of Pharmacology, Luqman College of Pharmacy, Gulbarga-585 102, Karnataka.
INTRODUCTION
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Diarrhoea is a killer disease worldwide and unfortunately, it
happens to be amongst the symptoms of many other diseases.
In most rural communities of developing countries including
Asia, diarrhoea poses serious problems particularly for
children due to amongst other reasons, lack of adequate
sanitation and pipe bornewater. Diarrhoea is characterized by
passage of abnormally soft or liquid feces leading to excess loss
2
of fluid, salts and nutrients . Several herbs and shrubs are
3
useful as medicines as reported by many scientists . Many such
herbs, shrubs and plants are known to protect the organs from
the environmental, chemical and occupational challenges.
Traditional medicine practitioners in asia have been known
to treat diarrhoea with a variety of medicinal plants one of
which being Mimosa pudica Linn. Mimosa pudica Linn is one
4
such green leaf shrubs . The leaves of these Mimosa pudica
have been shown to contain tannins and flavonoids which
have been implicated in their antidiarrhoeal activity. The
plant has been used to treat a variety of ailments. The plant
Mimosa pudica used in indigenous medicine for the treatment
of hydrocele, scrofula, conjunctivitis, cuts, wounds,
hemorrhages, bleeding disorders like menorrhagia, dysentery
5
with blood and mucus, piles, in herbal formulations .
However, scientific evidence does not exist in literatures to
Original Research Article
The study intended to investigate the antidiarrhoeal activity of the leaf aqueous extract of Mimosa pudica in wistar albino rats. Castor oil
induced diarrhoeal test, prostaglandin-E induced enteropooling test and gastrointestinal tract transit of charcoal meal test were used to
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assess the antidiarrhoeal activity of Mimosa pudica. While the acute toxicity study and phytochemical analysis was carried out using well
established protocols and methods. The leaf aqueous extract of Mimosa pudica significantly inhibited castor oil induced diarrhoea, PGE
2
induced enteropooling and has also reduced gastrointestinal motility after charcoal meal administration in rats. Loperamide, a standard
antidiarrhoeal drug, produced similar effects to the leaf aqueous extract of Mimosa pudica on three diarrhoeal model. The phytochemical
analysis of the leaves revealed the presence of tannins, saponins particularly steroidal saponin, and flavonoids. The LD50 of the plant
species obtained was greater than 2000 mg/kg (p.o.). The data obtained indicate that the leaf aqueous extract of Mimosa pudica has
antidiarrhoeal activity. The data also showed that the plant material given orally may be safe and/or non toxic in mice. However, further
investigation on the acute toxicity and on the mechanism of the antidiarrhoeal effect of the plant species needs to be carried out.
Keywords: Mimosa pudica Linn; Anti-diarrhoeal activity; Castrol oil-PGE induced diarrhea; Leaves aqueous extract; Intestinal
2
secretion; Gastrointestinal motility.
RGUHS Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Received: 31/1/2011, Modified: 10/2/2011, Accepted: 19/2/2011
136
corroborate the claims by traditional medicine practitioners
of the therapeutic successes of the plant species.
The main aim of the present study was, therefore, to
investigate the antidiarrhoeal activity of the leaf aqueous
extract of Mimosa pudica to justify its folklore use in diarrhoea.
The acute toxicity, the phytochemical analysis of various
components and the effect of the plant species on the
intestinal length of charcoal meal were also investigated in
rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The fresh leaves of Mimosa pudica Linn were collected from
Luqman college of Pharmacy, Gulbarga. (Karnataka). The
plant herbarium specimen was identified and authenticated
by Mr. P. G. Diwakar, Joint Director, Botanical Survey of
India, Western circle,7, Koregaon Road, Pune -1. (Voucher
No. JINSHMI1)
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Extraction
The authenticated leaves of Mimosa pudica Linn were dried in
shade and ground to fine powdered coarsely. 80 gm of fine
powder was refluxed in 1 L of boiling water, allowed to cool
and filtered. The filtrate was then frozen at −80°C and freezedried
for 120 hour. A yield of 10.4 gm of dried leaf aqueous
extract was obtained. Fresh extract solutions were prepared
on each day of the experiment by dissolving weighed
quantities of the extract in appropriate volumes of
RJPS, Jul - Sep, 2011/ Vol 1/ Issue 2