Anti-diarrheal properties of Osyris quadripartita (wild tea plant)

In this study, Ethiopian researchers investigated the antidiarrheal activity of Osyris quadripartita (wild tea plant) hydroalcoholic leaf extract using different mouse models. Their findings were published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine.

• The leaves of O. quadripartita are traditionally used to treat diarrhea in different parts of Ethiopia.
• However, the efficacy of this natural medicine has not been scientifically validated.
• To address this, the researchers used castor oil–induced diarrhea, enteropooling and gastrointestinal motility mouse models to test the antidiarrheal activity of O. quadripartita methanolic leaf extract.
• The activities of the extract at different doses (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) were then compared with those of standard drugs.
• The researchers reported that, at all tested doses, the O. quadripartita methanolic leaf extract significantly reduced the number of wet feces.
• The highest dose of the extract significantly reduced the frequency of defecation in mice with castor oil-induced diarrhea.
• Meanwhile, the extract also reduced the volume of intestinal content in the enteropooling model at all tested doses.
• The researchers noted that the observed results for treatment with 200 and 400 mg/kg O. quadripartita extract were better than the results obtained for the standard drug, loperamide.
• However, they did not observe significant antimotility effects at any of the tested doses.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the methanolic leaf extract of O. quadripartita can be used as a natural remedy for diarrhea.

Read the full article at this link.

Journal Reference:

Teferi MY, Abdulwuhab M, Yesuf JS. EVALUATION OF IN VIVO ANTIDIARRHEAL ACTIVITY OF 80% METHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF OSYRIS QUADRIPARTITA DECNE (SANTALACEAE) IN SWISS ALBINO MICE. Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine. 19 March 2019;24. DOI: 10.1177/2515690×19833340