Abstract
Diarrhea is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in children under age of 5 years. In view of this problem, the World Health Organization has encouraged studies for treatment and prevention of diarrhoeal diseases depending on traditional medicinal practices. Extracts of <em>Phoenix dactylifera</em> (date palm) are widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various disorders. In this study, the antidiarrhoeal activity of the aqueous fruit extract of <em>Phoenix dactylifera</em> was investigated by castor oil- induced diarrhoea, enteropooling and gastrointestinal motility activity in Wistar rats. Like the standard drug (5mg/kg loperamide), the extract (1000 and 1500mg/kg body weight) elicited a significant decrease in the severity of diarrhoea. The extract significantly (p<0.05) reduced the frequency of defaecation and as well decreased gastrointestinal motility. In the enteropooling study, the extract administered at 1000mg/kg had greater anti-enteropooling effect than the standard drug (5mg/kg loperamide). The result obtained shows that the aqueous fruit extract of <em>Phoenix dactylifera</em> may contain some pharmacologically active substances with antidiarrhoeal properties. This may be the basis for management of gastrointestinal disorders.
Highlights
Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally (WHO, 2011)
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has encouraged studies for treatment and prevention of diarrhoeal diseases depending on traditional medicinal practices (WHO, 1978, 1999; Cynthia et al, 2008)
The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiarrhoeal effect of aqueous fruit extract of Phoenix dactylifera (AEPD) in Wistar rats
Summary
Diarrhea remains the second leading cause of death among children under five globally (WHO, 2011). Dates contain at least six vitamins including a small amount of vitamin C, and vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), nicotinic acid (niacin) and vitamin A (Al-Shahib and Marshall, 1993) and are widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various disorders e.g., memory disturbances, fever, inflammation, paralysis, loss of consciousness, nervous disorders (Nadkarni, 1976) and as a detersive and astringent in intestinal troubles It is used in the treatment for sore throat, to relieve fever, cystitis, gonorrhea, edema, liver and abdominal troubles and to counteract alcohol intoxication (Barh and Mazumdar, 2008; Al-daihan and Bhat, 2012). Many researchers have documented the antioxidant property of Phoenix dactylifera (Mohamed and Al-Okbi, 2004; Allaith and Abdul, 2005; Al-Qarawi et al, 2008)
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