Chanchal Kumar Mishra, Dinakar Sasmal
Carissa carandas (L.) belonging to the Apocynaceae family and it is represented about 89 species in India. It is distributed throughout India in dry, sandy and rocky grounds. It naturally grows in the Himalayas at a height of 300 to 1800 meters in the Siwalik Hills from sea level and require fully exposure to sun and unfavorable to humidity. The plants having different chemical constituents include steroids, which may enhance intestinal absorption of Na+ and water. In the first method, Castor oil induced diarrhoea due to its active metabolite, ricinoleic acid. At doses of EFCC 200 and 400mg/kg, the extracts significantly decreased (*p < 0.05) the total number of wet feces (1.1 ± 0.19 at 200mg/kg and 2.18 ± 0.14** at 400mg/kg) were ERCC (1.19 ± 0.08 at 200mg/kg and 2.42 ± 0.14** at 400mg/kg) when compared to the control (0.87 ± 0.03 at 5ml/kg, p.o). The highest dose of the EFCC and ERCC extracts was similar effects to that of the standard drug, Loperamide (2.88 ± 0.13** at 5mg/kg). During the second methods, propulsion of the charcoal meal through the gastrointestinal tract was decreased significantly (*p < 0.05) from EFCC 43.76 ± 0.40 at 200mg/kg and 54.9 ± 0.50* at 400mg/kg and from ERCC 45.11 ± 0.36 at 200mg/kg and 56.14 ± 0.30* at 400mg/kg, compared to control (36.02 ±0.27 at 5ml/kg, p.o.). Similarly, the highest dose of the EFCC and ERCC extracts was similar effect to that of the standard drug, Atropine sulphate (66.46 ± 0.43* at 5mg/kg). It concludes that the investigation revealed that the ethanolic fruit and root extracts of plants contained pharmacologically active substances which are responsible for anti-diarrhoeal activities.
