Antidiarrhoeal activity of roots of Cicer arietinum Linn - International ...

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences ISSN: 2229-3701
___________________________________________________________Research Paper
Antidiarrhoeal activity of roots of Cicer arietinum Linn
Karnail Dalal 1* , Sharmila Singhroha 1 , Sandeep Ahlawat 2 and Arjun Patra 3
1Janta College of Pharmacy, Butana, Sonepat, HR, India.
2 Sanjay College of Pharmacy, Chaumuhan, Mathura, UP, India.
3Department of Pharmacy, Banasthali University, P.O. Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan, India.
___________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
The antidiarrhoeal activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Cicer arietinum roots was evaluated in mice. In the
present study, we investigated the antidiarrhoeal activities of the Hydroalcoholic extract, acetone fraction and
methanol fraction of the roots of this plant. The antidiarrhoeal activity of the hydroalcoholic extract and its
acetone and methanol fraction was studied based on the basis of their effect on Castor oil induced diarrhea in
mice. The extracts were also screened for alkaloids, steroids, proteins, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates,
fats and oils etc. and observed the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acid and saponins in the roots
of Cicer arietinum Linn. The results obtained showed that the highest reduction in diarrhoea was observed
24.63 % in hydroalcoholic extract and Loperamide (5 mg/kg) inhibited the castor oil induced diarrhoea by
75.37 %.
Key Words: Cicer arietinum, Antidiarrhoeal activity, Root extract
INTRODUCTION
Diarrhea may be defined as a situation in which
an adult daily stool exceeds 200 g and contains 60-
95% water. This disease is common in the tropics.
Indeed, in certain parts of the world, diarrhea
produces more illness and causes death of more
infants and children than all other diseases
combined 1 . Diarrhea ranges from a mild to a
socially inconvenient illness to a major cause of
malnourishment among children of developing
countries, and causes 4-5 million deaths through
out the world, annually. To combat the problem of
diarrhea in developing countries, the world health
organization (WHO) has constituted a diarrhea
disease control programme (DDC) 2 . Cicer
arietinum Linn (Leguminosae) is an annual herb
that is spread into Southern Europe, India, Egypt
and Southern America. It contains good amount of
carbohydrates in the seeds. Various proteins and
minerals have also been found in it 3, 4 . Traditionally
it is used as antibacterial, antifungal, antipyretic,
antidiarrhoeal etc 5, 6 . The present study deals with
the antidiarrhoeal activity of the hydroalcoholic
extract, and its acetone and methanol fractions of
the roots of this plant.
________________________________________
*Address for correspondence:
E-mail: Karnail_dalal@yahoo.co.in
MATERIALS AND METHOD
Collection and authentication of plant material
The Plant Cicer arietinum was collected during
February to March from different region of
Haryana and authenticated through NISCAIR, New
Delhi and a voucher specimen has been preserved
for further references.
Preparation of extracts
The roots were dried under shade, coarsely
powdered and the hydroalcoholic extract was
prepared by maceration. Further the acetone and
methanol fractions of the concentrated
hydroalcoholic extract were prepared by using
percolator.
Animals
Approval for the use of animals for
antidiarrhoeal experiments had been obtained from
the Animal Ethical Committee of the College of
Pharmacy, IFTM, Moradabad, U.P, India. Swiss
mice of either sex obtained from the Animal House
unit of the Department of Pharmacology and
Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Moradabad,
U.P., India were used. The animals maintained
under standard laboratory conditions and had free
access to standard diet and drinking water.
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International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences ISSN: 2229-3701
Acute toxicity studies
The acute toxicity of the extracts was
determined in albino mice, maintained under
standard conditions. The animals were fasted
overnight prior to the experiment. Fixed dose 500
mg/kg, 1000 mg/kg, 1500 mg/kg and 2000 mg/kg
of (OCED Guideline No. 420) method of CPCSEA
was adopted for toxicity studies. Neither toxicity
substance nor mortality was observed up to a base
level of 2000 mg/kg body weight. Hence 1/5 th (400
mg/kg) and 1/10 th (200 mg/kg) were selected for
pharmacological studies.
Castor oil induced diarrhoea
Mice were fasted for 12 h prior to the
commencement of the experiment and were
randomly divided into five groups of five rats each.
The animals in Group 1 received distilled water
orally using orogastric cannulla, the animals in
groups 2 and 3 received the hydroalcoholic extract
at the dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight,
orally, respectively; group 4 received acetone
fraction, 5 th group received methanol fraction and
group 6 received a standard drug, Loperamide (5
mg/kg). After 30 min of the drug treatment, castor
oil 0.2 ml per mouse 7 was administered orally. The
animals were placed in individual cages over clean
filter paper. Three hour after oil challenge the rat
cages were inspected (by an observer unaware of
the treatment) for the presence of characteristic
diarrhoeal droppings, their absence was recorded as
a protection from diarrhoea 8 and the percentage
protection was calculated.
CONCLUSION
The results of the present study indicate the
antidiarrhoeal activity of the roots of Cicer
arietinum. However, further investigations are
required to isolate the active constituents
responsible for these activities and to elucidate the
exact mechanisms of action.
Treatm
ent
Control
CAHE
CAAF
CAMF
Loperamide
Table 1: Effect of Hydroalcoholic Extract
and Different Fractions of C. arietinum on
Castor Oil Induced Diarrhoea in Mice
Dose
(mg/kg)
-
200
400
100
100
5
No. of watery
diarrhea
%
Inhibition
22.33 ± 0.33
-
18.33 ± 0.33 *
16.83 ± 0.30 *
20.33 ± 0.33 *
19.16 ± 0.40 *
5.5 ± 0.22 *
17.91
24.63
8.9
14.19
75.37
Values are mean ± SEM (n = 6). * P < 0.05, significantly different
from the control, Student’s t-test.
CAHE, Hydroalcoholic Extract; CAAF, Acetone fraction; CAMF,
Methanol fraction
Fig. 1: Percentage Inhibition of Diarrhoeal
Activity by Hydroalcoholic Extract of
C. arietinum and its Fractions
Statistical analysis
Results are presented as mean ± SEM. The
student t-test was used to determine the significant
difference between two groups (P

International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences ISSN: 2229-3701
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Pharmacognosy of Indigenous Drugs, 1st
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6. Karnail Dalal, S Ahlawat, Hitesh Munjal and
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and the Digestive Tract, Rome, EMSI,
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8. Abdullahi M, Muhammad G and Abdulkadir
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Nupeland’. 2003;68.
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