Seeds of Moringa peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori. (Moringaceae) is widely used in south east of Iran for gastrointestinal disorders. However, so far there is no pharmacological evidence for antispasmodic activity of this plant extract. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate antispasmodic activity of M. peregrina on rat isolated ileum contraction. Hydroalcoholic extract was obtained by...

Celery (Apium graveolens L.) is a plant species in the family Apiaceae, which has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. This study investigated the effects of aqueous and ethanol extracts from celery leaves on intestinal contractility. Air-dried and powdered leaves were extracted with distilled water and 96% ethanol, respectively. The activities of th...

We have previously elucidated the opiate-like action of mitragynine, an active principle isolated from the Thai medicinal plant Mitragyna speciosa. In the present study, effects of the related compound, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl on electrically stimulated contraction in guinea pig ileum and mouse vas deferens, and on its binding affinity in the guinea pig brain membranes were studied. Mitragyni...

Anethum graveolens L. is a member of the Apiaceae family and more commonly known as dill. Dill has been used for gastrointestinal ailments such as flatulence, indigestion, stomach ache and colic. It has therapeutic effects such as mucosal protective, antisecretory, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, antihypercholesterolaemic and antihyperlipidaemic. The aim of our study was to examine the effects of...

Bacterial diversity of the mucosal biopsies from human jejunum, distal ileum, ascending colon and rectum were compared by analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA clone libraries. A total of 347 clones from the mucosal biopsies were partially sequenced and assigned to six phylogenetic phyla of the domain Bacteria: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Actinobac...

The effects of serosally added 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT, 100 microM) on the short circuit-current (Isc) across jejunum and ileum taken from fed, starved and undernourished (Gerbillus cheesmani) were investigated. The effects of the neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX, 10 microM) on the basal Isc as well as on the maximum increase in Isc induced by 5-HT were also studied. There were regional variatio...

The ability of the M2 muscarinic receptor to mediate an inhibition of the relaxant effects of forskolin and isoproterenol was investigated in guinea pig ileum and trachea. In some experiments, trachea was first treated with 4-diphenylacetoxy-N-methylpiperidine (4-DAMP) mustard to inactivate M3 receptors. The contractile response to oxotremorine-M was measured subsequently in the presence of bot...