Effects of Cola anomala (K. Schum.) water/ethanol pods extract on the inflammation and intestinal secretion in lipopolysaccharide-induced diarrhea

Diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death among children in low and low-middle income countries and the management of this pathology is still a problem in these regions. The water/ethanol extract of the pods of Cola anomala (KEO) has been shown to possess antimicrobial and antidiarrheal effects in Shigella flexneri-induced diarrhea, but whether KEO is active on the toxemic part of this diarrhea is unknown. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of KEO on the intestinal secretion and inflammation induced by intraperitoneal administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). KEO obtained by maceration in water/ethanol (1:1) was administered orally (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg of body weight) against LPS-induced diarrhea in mice. The mass of feces, the intestinal nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin (PGE2) contents as well as myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were assessed. KEO was also tested on LPS-induced enteropooling in rats. In this experiment, the intestinal fluid and its electrolytes (Na+, K+ and Cl-) contents were determined as well as NO, PGE2, TNF-α and IL-1β levels in the small intestine homogenate. Indomethacin (5 mg/kg) was used as reference drug. KEO significantly (p < 0.001) reduced stools excretion, NO content and MPO activity in intestine but did not affect PGE2 in LPS-induced diarrhea. On the enteropooling model, KEO showed no effect on the intestinal fluid and electrolyte excretion, PGE2, TNF-α and IL-1β contents, but significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the NO production. This study suggests that KEO does not have antisecretory effect, but has anti inflammatory activities. It can be concluded that the anti-toxemic effect of KEO contributes less to its antidiarrheal activity in infectious diarrhea.