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Diuretic activity of Euphorbia cotinifolia extracts in adult Wistar albino rats: A herb used locally in the management of cardiovascular diseases

Pamela Nawaggi, Godfrey S.Bbosa, Malcolm Kavuma, Aloysius Lubega

Diuretics are commonly used in themanagement of cardiovascular diseases like hypertension. The study investigated the diuretic activity of ether and ethanol extracts of E. cotinifolia leaf in adult Wistar albino rats with furosemide and normal saline as positive and negative controls respectively. Four groups each with 6 healthy adult rats of either sex were used. Group I was dosed 5ml of normal saline intragastrically. Group II were given 5ml of 10 mg/kg b.wt. of furosemide. Group III were given 5 ml of 400 mg/kg b.wt. of ethanol extract. Group IV was given 5 ml of 400 mg/kg b.wt. of ether extract. The mean hourly total cumulative total urine output for each group was determined for 5 hours and was used to calculate the diuretic activity of both extracts. The pH and specific gravity of the urine output were determined using the pH urinalysis strips and the urine electrolytes; creatinine and urea/BUN levelswere determined using COBAS INTEGRA 400 plus automated analyzer. Ether extract had the highest mean hourly cumulative total urine output of 17.80±0.36 ml with diuretic activity of 1.60 as compared to the 11.00±0.66 ml of furosemide after 5 hours and difference was statistically significant (pï‚£0.05) at all the time intervals of urine collection. Ether extract group had a pH of 7.0±0.36, specific gravity of 1.02±0.01, [K+] of 132.00±3.61 mMol/l, creatinine of 2158.00±5.29 µMol/l and urea/BUNof 484.40±6.38 mMol/l that were slightly higher as compared to that of furosemide. The [Na+]was 126.00±4.01 mMol/l and that of chloride [Cl-] was 144.00±3.10 mMol/l slightly lower as compared to furosemide and the difference was statistically significant (pï‚£0.05). The results conclude that E. cotinifolia leaves contains compounds with diuretic activity and hence its folklore use as a diuretic in the management of cardiovascular diseases like hypertension is justified.