DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2017.v05i03.018

Pages: 230-239

Harungana madagascariensis is a medicinal plant used for the treatment of diarrhoeal disease. The present study evaluated the antidiarrhoeal, antibacterial and safe use of hydro-ethanolic extract of Harungana madagascariensis at acute and subacute administration. The antidiarrhoeal activity was characterized as inhibitor of Castor oil induced diarrhea and upper gastrointestinal transit at preventive and curative administration. Prominent enteric bacteria were screened in vitro for antibacterial activity using the microdilution method. At acute administration an LD50 of 1650 mg/kg was obtained for H. madagascariensis. Meanwhile at sub-acute administration H. madagascariensis induced noticeable changes in transaminases activities as well as cholesterol, urea and glucose concentration which may serve as indicators of toxicity. It also had a dose related inhibitory effect on growth rate compared to control animals. In castor oil induced diarrhea, Loperamide (reference drug) had the strongest inhibitory effect followed by the 200 mg/kg dose extract. The difference between the inhibitory effect of 400 and 800 mg/kg extract were not significant. On gastrointestinal motility, Loperamide had the strongest preventive effect compared to all the doses of extract tested, while 100 mg/kg was the most effective amongst the plant extracts. However, for the curative effect the response was dose related with 400 mg/kg being more effective than 200 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg. For the antibacterial study H. madagascariensis extract prevented the growth of all 12 tested bacterial species. P. aeruginosa, E.coli, S. flexneri and S. aureus were the most sensitive (MIC = 62.5 μg/ml) while P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and P. aeruginosa ATCC 01 were the least sensitive (MIC = 500 μg/ml). H madagascariensis aqueous extract possess some antidiarrhoeal and antibacterial activities though it may be toxic.