Antidiarrheal activity of methanolic extracts of seeds of Lepidium sativum

The objective of the present study is to investigate the antidiarrheal activity of the methanolic extract of Lepidium sativum (MELS). The preliminary phytochemical investigation was carried out to identify the various chemical constituents present in the extract. It was found that the MELS contain alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins, proteins, steroids, flavonoids, tannins and phenolic compounds. Acute toxicity studies revealed that the MELS was safe upto 2000mg/kg. The antidiarrheal activity was observed in three experimentally induced diarrhea models i.e. Castor oil induced diarrhea; Prostaglandin E2 (PG-E2) induced enteropooling in rats and charcoal meal test in mice. In castor oil induced model MELS (50, 100 and 200mg/kg.p.o.) showed significant dose dependent reduction of cumulative wet faecal mass. In PG-E2 induced enteropooling model, MELS (50, 100 and 200mg/kg.p.o.) inhibited PG-E2 induced secretions. Similarly in charcoal meal test MELS (50, 100 and 200mg/kg.p.o.) decreased the movement of charcoal indicating its antimotility activity. It was observed that MELS possess significant anti-diarrheal activity.