Morinda lucida leaf and fruit extracts may attenuate diarrhea arising from ebola

Morinda lucida, a tropical West Africa rainforest tree also called Brimstone tree has been claimed to have medicinal properties including anti-diarrheal. This study is therefore aimed at evaluating the anti-diarrheal properties of the leaf and fruit extracts of this plant in albino Wistar rats. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, glycosides, and anthraquinones. Acute toxicity test on both extracts showed non toxicity at 5000mg/kg. In the anti-diarrheal examination, diarrhea-induced albino Wistar rats were administered with different concentrations (20mg/kg, 40mg/kg and 60mg/kg) of aqueous extracts of the leaf and fruit of Morinda lucida, and there was a significant reduction in faecal spot in a dose dependent manner. The 20mg/kg leaf extract group had a reduced faecal spot of 9.33±0.88 (diarrheal freq.) over a 6 hourly - three days treatment, while the 60mg/kg leaf extract group reduced the faecal spot to 1.00±0.41 (diarrheal freq.). A similar trend was seen in the rats treated with the fruit extract of the plant. No significant difference was observed in the extracts groups and the positive control group but there was significant difference between the extracts group and the negative control group. It could thus, be deduced that Morinda lucida leaf and fruit can be used in the effective management and treatment of diarrhea. This work, which seems to justify the traditional use of Morinda lucida in treatment of diarrhea may also be useful in managing diarrhea in ebola patients.