Activity of Oxalis barrelieri aqueous extract on rat secretory diarrhea and intestine transit

Oxalis barrelieri is used in the folk medicine for diarrhea treatment. The effects of the aqueous extract of Oxalis barrelieri on castor oil-induced diarrhea and intestine transit were investigated in rats. To induce the diarrhea and enteropooling, animals orally received castor oil (1 mL/100 g bw). Each rat received 30 minutes after, one of the single oral doses of O. barrelieri aqueous extract: 0, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 250 mg/kg bw or loperamide (5 mg/kg bw). The frequency and the total diarrheal weight for diarrhea and the intestine content for enteropooling were measured. To value the extract effect on intestine transit, normal rats received or not acetylcholine 0.1 mg/kg bw i.p. and then different dose of plant extract 50 and 100 mg/kg bw. The extract produced significant (p<0.01) decrease: respectively 95 %, 96.36 %, 99 % and 100 % in the severity of diarrhea. The 50 and 100 mg/kg bw extract produced remarkable (p<0.01) decrease in castor oil-induced enteropooling (59 % and 71.43%), intestine transit (42.12 % and 46.50 %), and reduced acetylcholine action (-65.90 % and -53.73 %) respectively. The results provide evidence that the aqueous extract of O. barrelieri could act on secretory diarrhea and intestinal motility, and thus could justify its traditional use.