Castor Oil-Induced Diarrhea Suppression by C. aurea

The method described by Shoba and Thomas [9 (link)], was followed for this study with slight modification. The animals were all screened initially by giving 0.5 ml of castor oil one week before the actual experiment. Only those showing diarrhoea were selected for the final experiment. Twenty five mice fasted for 24 h were randomly allocated to five groups of five animals each. Group I (received 1% tween 80 at a dose of 10 ml/kg) served as control group, Group II received the standard drug loperamide 3 mg/kg, p.o. Group III, IV and V received the methanol leaf extract of C. aurea at the doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg p.o., respectively. One hour after administration, all animals received 0.5 ml of castor oil and then they were individually place in cages the floor of which was lined with transparent paper. During an observation period of 4 h, the time of onset of diarrhoea, the total number of faecal output (frequency of defecation) and weight of faeces excreted by the animals were recorded.