Evaluation of Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Methanol Extract of The Leaf of Margaritaria discoidea

Margaritaria discoidea leaves are used traditionally in the treatment of diarrhoea. The study aimed to evaluate the antidiarrhoea activity of the methanol extract of the leaves of M. discoidea. The fresh leaves of M. discoidea were collected, dried, and authenticated. The acute toxicity effect was determined using the castor oil-induced protocol. The plant extract was given orally at 10, 100, and 1000 mg/kg body weight. Loperamide was used at 2 mg/kg body weight orally as a positive control standard. Male adult albino Wistar rats (180-256 g) consisting of thirty (30) rats divided into six (6) groups of five (5) rats each, were acclimatized for 7 days in a standard animal house and then exposed to 12 h light and dark cycle at 25 ºC and humidity of 55 %, with free access to water and feed, were used in this experiment. The effects of M. discoidea methanol leaf extract on the number and total faecal output (NTF), number and weight faecal output (NWF), weight of the wet faecal output (WWF), and weight of total faecal output (WTF) on castor oil-induced diarrhoea in rats indicated that the rats pretreated with the vehicle (Tween 80) and administered with castor oil showed significantly (p < 0.05) higher rate of WWF in 2, 3 and 4 h post treatment. The crude extract significantly reduced the NWF output as the dose of the extract increased, with an increase in post-treatment time compared to the vehicle pretreated group.