Evaluation of Antidiarrhoeal Activity of Aerva species

The genus Aerva is distributed is temperate and stropical Asia and Africa. Aerva species, Aerva lanata and Aerva javanica have been used for antidiarrhoeal activity in Indian traditional medicine. A.lanata and A.javanica were screened separately for their. anti-diarrhoeal activity and their action on intestinal transit on their vacuum dried ethanolic and aqueous extracts at the dose of 800 mg/kg by standard methods. All the extracts showed significant antidairrhoeal activity and significantly reduced intestinal transit in charcoal meal test. The results illustrate that the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of A.lanata and the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of A.javanica have significant antidiarrhoeal activity and the activity may be attributed to its effect on intestinal transit. The present study supports the claim of Aerva lanata and Aerva javanica as antidiarrhoeal drugs in the Indian system of medicine.