Antidiarrhoeal effects of methanol root extract of Detarium microcarpum (leguminosae) in albino rats

This study aimed at evaluating the antidiarrhoeal effects of methanolic root extract of Detarium microcarpum. The root of Detarium microcarpum was collected air-dried, ground to powder and extracted with methanol by cold extraction method to give a percentage yield of 9.65% w/w. The antidiarrhoeal effect of the methanol root extract on castor oil-induced diarrhoea, intestinal charcoal meal transit and castor oil-induced enteropooling were determined. The root extract of Detarium microcarpum produced a significant dose-dependent protection (p<0.05) against the castor oil-induced diarrhoea with the highest protection of 76.7% obtained at the highest dose tested (400mg/kg). The extract showed a significant intestinal charcoal meal transit (p<0.05) as it had 45.5%, 53.8%, and 62.4% inhibition respectively when compared to distilled water, the negative control (0% inhibition). Atropine however produced a significant increase (p<0.05) in intestinal charcoal meal transit at 78.1% inhibition. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) between the extract doses 100, 200, 400 mg/kg administered. The methanol extract at 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg showed 25.4%, 40.7% and 78.8% fluid accumulation respectively. The positive control Atropine (5 mg/kg) had 82.3% inhibition of intestinal content when compared to the negative control (distilled water treated rats) which had 0% inhibition. The results obtained from this study revealed that the root extract of Detarium microcarpum possesses antidiarrhoeal effect. The plant extract is recommended for bioassay-guided isolation and characterization of the active compounds responsible for the antidiarrhoeal property.