Comparative antioxidant potential of Momordica charantia leaf extract and metronidazole on castor oil-induced dysentery in Wistar rats

Dysentery has been rampaging with high mortality most especially among children in developing countries. The synthetic drugs available are quite unaffordable, scarce and not reliable as they often present side effects which are detrimental to health. In vitro antioxidant potential of a native plant in Yoruba black race locally called ‘Ijirin’ (Momordica charantia) leaf extract against castor oil-induced dysentery and subtle comparison with efficacy and health effect of metronidazole in wistar rats were investigated in this study. The concentration of bioactive components in the extract were also examined and investigated while the inhibitory antioxidant potential against oxidative stress between the extract and drug along stomach villi while interfering with the electrolytes were also compared. The extract demonstrated high inhibitory and antioxidant potential where frequency of stooling and intestinal content movement were reduced significantly (P<0.05) in rats treated with the extract compared with animals treated with test drug. However, the pharmacological strength of both drug and extract are concentration dependent while it could be inferred from this study that dysentery could be managed or prevented with zero side effect by dietary intake of Momordica charantia leaves.