EVALUATION OF THE POLY HERBAL AQUEOUS LEAF EXTRACT ON BACTERIA INDUCED DIARRHEA AND PERIPHERAL BLOOD SMEAR IN RATS

Since the beginning of time, people and animals have used plants as a source of medicine. Diarrhea is a common gastrointestinal disorder characterized by loose, watery stools occurring more frequently than usual. This work aimed at evaluating the anti-diarrhoeal property of the polyherbal aqueous extract on bacterial induced diarrhea in Wistar rat. Diarrhea was induced in twenty-five (25) male Wistar rats, orally administered with Shigella dysenteriae and Escherichia coli bacteria isolated at 1 ml. Graded doses (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) of the polyherbal plant extract reduced the effect of the bacteria induced diarrheoal. The results showed a slight reduction in the number of wet stools, weight of stools and total number of stools when compared with the control. The peripheral blood smear showed no deteriorative effect on the blood cells, with no significant difference across the treated groups when compared with the control. In conclusion, the antidiarrhoeal activities of the polyherbal aqueous extract effect could be implicated due to the presence of the phytoconstituents in the plants. Thus, this finding supports the claimed ethnomedicinal use of the polyherbal plant extract for the management of diarrhea.