Abstract:
Background:Diarrhea is the second leading cause of mortality and morbidity in children under
the age of five and around half of million deaths reported in south Asian and Africa.Due to
undesirable side effect of antidiarrheal drugs and superinfection and antibiotic
resistance,Ethiopians widely used medicinal plants as a source of medicine for treating diarrhea
and other human ailments.Among medicinal plants used,the seeds ofHordeum vulgare Linn
havetraditionally been utilized by peoples to treat diarrhea and other human ailments.
Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the antidiarrheal activity of 80% methanol
extract and solvent fractions ofthe seeds ofHordeum vulgare Linn in mice.
Methods: Theseeds ofHordeum vulgare Linn were germinated, crushed and then extracted by
cold maceration technique using 80% methanol as solvent. The methanolic extracts were
fractionated by using n-hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous solvent. Then the acute oral toxicity
study was evaluated on the methanolic extract. Thereafter the extracts were tested at doses of 100,
200, and 400 mg/kg using castor oil-induced diarrhea,enteropooling, and gastrointestinal motility
models. Five groups with six mice per group were randomly allocatedfor antidiarrheal activity
test. Group I received vehicle 10ml/kg, groups II, III and IV were treated with the extracts whereas
group V received standard drug. The results were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 20 and
significant differences within and between groups wereassessed by one-way Analysis of Variance
followed by post hoc Tukey’s multiple comparison tests.
Result:The methanol extract at a dose of 200and 400 mg/kg significantly (p<0.001) delayed the
onset of diarrhea, and decreased (P<0.001) the total frequency of defecation, number and weight
of diarrheal faces relative to the negative control group. Relative to the vehicle treated group, the
highest tested dose of ethyl acetate and aqueous fraction maximally (p<001) delayed the
appearance of diarrhea. Similarly, the highest dose of these two fractions provided the greatest
(p<0.001) reduction of number and weight of solvent fraction. the number and weight of diarrheal
feces significantly decreased by the highest dose of ethyl acetate and aqueous fraction. The highest
dose of crude extract (72.46%), ethyl acetate fraction (62.5%) and loperamide 3 mg/kg(77.37%)
exhibited the greatest percentage reduction of intraluminal fluid buildup in the enteropooling test.
Additionally, significant inhibition of intestinal charcoal meal transit was shown by crude extract
at 200 (p<0.001) and 400 mg/kg (p<0.001) and solvent fractions.
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Conclusion: 80% methanol extract and solvent fractions of the seeds of H. vulgareshowed antidiarrheal effects.this study supported the traditional uses of H.vulgare for treating diarrhea
