Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Ameliorative effect of Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Saururaceae) leaf extract in loperamide-induced constipation in rats

Sung-Gyu Lee, Hyun Kang

Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science, Dankook University, Cheonan-si, Chungnam 31116, Republic of Korea;

For correspondence:- Hyun Kang Email: hyuntbe@gmail.com

Accepted: 19 July 2019 Published: 29 August 2019

Citation: Lee S, Kang H. Ameliorative effect of Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Saururaceae) leaf extract in loperamide-induced constipation in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(8):1727-1732 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i8.23

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Saururaceae) extract against loperamide-induced constipation in Wistar rats.

Methods: Constipation was induced by loperamide (3 mg/kg). The rats were orally treated daily with either 40, 80, 160 mg/kg/day of H. cordata extract or 0.25 mg/kg bisacodyl (positive control) for 7 days, while normal control group received water only. Feed and water intake, body weight, number and water content of fecal pellets were monitored throughout the study period. The biochemical marker activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were determined in the blood of the animals.

Results: The water content of fecal pellets and body weight gain of the constipation rats changed significantly (p < 0.05) when compared to the normal control. Serum levels of AST were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the 80 and 160 mg/kg dose groups when compared to normal controls. However, there were no alterations in the levels of γ-GT and LDH across all groups.

Conclusion: Treatment of rats with ethanol extract of H. cordata leaf has useful effects against constipation. Therefore, H. cordata leaf may be benefitial as a traditional herbal medicine for the management of constipation.

Keywords: Constipation, Houttuynia cordata Thunb, Loperamide, Bisacodyl