Uterine Contractile Activity of Extract of Icacina trichantha on Albino Non-Pregnant Rat Uterus

Ebhodaghe F. Okieimen¹, Omonkhelin J. Owolabi², Osaro Iyekowa¹, Eribe M. Jonathan¹*

¹Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Physical Sciences, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

²Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author: [email protected]; Tel: +2348066232465

Recieved Date: January 15, 2018; Accepted Date: March 05, 2018; Published Date: 07 March 2018

Citation: Okieimen FE, Owolabi JO, Iyekowa O, Jonathan JE. Uterine Contractile Activity of Extract of Icacina trichantha on Albino Non-Pregnant Rat Uterus. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2018; 2(2):118-121.  https://doi.org//10.26538/tjnpr/v2i3.3

Copyright: © 2018 Okieimen et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

The use of medicinal plants to facilitate births and control abortion among rural women is a common practice in Sub-Saharan Africa. Icacina trichantha is one of such plants used in Edo and Delta States of Nigeria for the treatment and management of threatened abortion and uterine pain by herbal practitioners. The present study was conducted to determine the uterine contractile activity of Icacina trichantha on albino non-pregnant rat uterus. The powdered plant leaves were extracted with methanol in a soxhlet apparatus. The crude extract was concentrated in a rotary evaporator at 50oC. Phytochemical screening was conducted according to standard methods and contractile activity was determined using non-pregnant female albino rat with the aid of Ugo Basile channel recorder. Alkaloids, phenolics, eugenols and steroids were present while tannin was absent. The uterine contractile results revealed that the methanol extract of I. trichatha produced a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in both oxytocin and acetylcholine-induced contractions of the rat uterus. The activity of the extract was comparable to that of salbutamol and atropine; two positive controls that significantly (p < 0.05) relaxed the uterus.