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Ethanol Extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch: Antidiarrheal Activity in Mice and Contraction Effect in Isolated Rabbit Jejunum

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the antidiarrheal effect of ethanol extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch root (GFR) in vivo and jejunal contraction in vitro.

Methods

In vivo, 50 mice were divided into negative control, positive control (verapamil), low-, medium- and high-dose GFR (250, 500, 1,000 mg/kg) groups by a random number table, 10 mice in each group. The antidiarrheal activity was evaluated in castor oil-induced diarrhea mice model by evacuation index (EI). In vitro, the effects of GFR (0.01, 0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10 g/L) on the spontaneous contraction of isolated smooth muscle of rabbit jejunum and contraction of pretreated by Acetylcholine (ACh, 10 µmol/L) and KCl (60 mmol/L) were observed for 200 s. In addition, CaCl2 was accumulated to further study its mechanism after pretreating jejunal smooth muscle with GFR (1 and 3 g/L) or verapamil (0.03 and 0.1 µmol/L) in a Ca2+-free-high-K+ solution containing ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA).

Results

GFR (500 and 1,000 mg/kg) significantly reduced EI in castor oil-induced diarrhea model mice (P<0.01). Meanwhile, GFR (0.01, 0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, and 10 g/L) inhibited the spontaneous contraction of rabbit jejunum (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Contraction of jejunums samples pretreated by ACh and KCl with 50% effective concentration (EC50) values was 1.05 (0.71–1.24), 0.34 (0.29–0.41) and 0.15 (0.11–0.20) g/L, respectively. In addition, GFR moved the concentration-effect curve of CaCl2 down to the right, showing a similar effect to verapamil.

Conclusions

GFR can effectively against diarrhea and inhibit intestinal contraction, and these antidiarrheal effects may be based on blocking L-type Ca2+ channels and muscarinic receptors.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Zhang JW contributed to conception of the study and perform the analysis with constructive discussions. Wen J and Wei Y contributed to the phytochemical study and performed the data analyses and wrote the manuscript. Deng KX and Chen HX performed the experiment and revised the manuscript. Lyu YX and Zhang H performed the experiment and analysis with constructive discussions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ying Wei.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Supported by Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students in Sichuan Province (No. S201910634082, 202110634018), Nanchong Government-Municipal Colleges and Universities Cooperative Scientific Research Project (No. 19SXHZ0231), and Doctor Initiation Fund of North Sichuan Medical College (No. CBY19-QD07)

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Wen, J., Zhang, Jw., Lyu, Yx. et al. Ethanol Extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch: Antidiarrheal Activity in Mice and Contraction Effect in Isolated Rabbit Jejunum. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 29, 325–332 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-3536-5

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