Pharmacological review on natural antidiarrhoel agents
By Rajeev Kumar, Ram Jee Sharma, Khemraj Bairwa, Ram Kumar Roy, Arun Kumar
ABSTRACT
Diarrhoea refers to an increase in the frequency, fluidity and/or volume of faeces, greater than normal for an individual, resulting from an imbalance between the secretory and absorptive forces in the intestines. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3–5 billion cases occur each year (1billion in children less than 5 years of age), and that approximately 5 million deaths are due to diarrhoea annually (2.5 million in children less than 5 years of age). The incidence of diarrhoeal diseases still remains high despite the efforts of many governments and international organisations to curb it. Many synthetic chemicals like diphenoxylate, loperamide and antibiotics are available for the treatment of diarrhoea but they have some side effects and increasing resistance of pathogen to the common antibiotics. In recent years, special attention is being given on alternative safe natural bio-remedies to cure the infectious diseases because of their less or no side effects, high efficacy, less cost. In this paper an attempt has been made to give an overview of certain plants with their phytoconstituents and mechanism of action which have been studied for their antidiarrhoel activity.
Keywords : Castor oil-induced diarrhoea, Tannin, Diarrhoea, Flavonoids, Anti-diarrhoeal drugs
