Evaluation of Anti-Ulcer and Anti-Diarrhoeal Activities of the Ayurvedic Formulation Udumbara Ghanasatwa

Abstract

Udumbara Ghanasatwa is a classical Ayurvedic formulation prescribed for the treatment of gastritis, indigestion and diarrhoea without any scientific validation of its pharmacological action. The present study investigated the antiulcer activity of Udumbara Ghanasatwa at two graded doses by pylorus ligation model in rats. The anti-diarrhoeal activity was also evaluated in terms of the defecation amount/frequency as well as intestinal fluid enteropooling in castor oil induced diarrhoea. The Ghanasatwa exerted significant protective effects in both pylorus ligation-induced gastric ulcer and castor oil induced diarrhoeal models in a dose-dependent manner. Findings obtained in the study justified the clinical applications of Udumbara Ghanasatwa in the treatment of gastric ulcers and diarrhoea. These pharmacological effects exerted by Ghanasatwa may be attributed to the antioxidant phytoconstituents like flavonoids and tannins present in it.