**3. Diarrhoea**

300 New Advances in the Basic and Clinical Gastroenterology

 *Glycyrrhiza glabra* is a legume native to southern Europe and parts of Asia. It is a wellknown folk medicine for gastric ulcer (Aly et al., 2004). Gastric mucosal damage induced by NSAIDs is markedly reduced by *G. glabra* (Aly et al., 2004). Clinical data on *Gycrrhiza glabra* is inconsistent. In a double-blind clinical trial, administration of deglycyrrhizinized liquorice thrice daily at the dose of 760 mg for four weeks significantly accelerated the healing of gastric ulcer. In contrast, a cross over study at the same dose and treatment time reported no improvement in ulcer healing (Engqvist et al., 1973). A similar result was shown in a double-blind placebo- control study with administration of deglycyrrhizinized liquorice for one month at the dose of 380 mg thrice daily (Feldman et al., 1971). No side effects are reported in subjects who received

**Evidence Active Constituent(s) Reference** 

al

Phenolic glycoside Bandyopadhyay et al

Unknown Aly et al, Rees et al ;

et al ; Obi et al

Arun et al

Alqasoumi et al

De Pasquale et al ; Germanò et al

Nguelefack et al

Engqvist et al; Feldman et al

deglycyrrhizinized liquorice extract in these studies.

*Eruca sativa* Pre-clinical Flavonoids, sterols &

*Dodonaea viscosa* Pre-clinical Flavonoids, saponins, bitter

*Pteleopsis suberosa* Pre-clinical Triterpenoid saponins &

*Solanum torvum* Flavonoids, sterols &

Table 1. Plants and their active constituents with anti-ulcer activity

*Diodia sarmentosa* Pre-clinical Unknown Akah et al *Cassia nigricans* Pre-clinical Flavonoids Akah et al

*Ficus exasperate* Pre-clinical Gallic acid & ellagic acid Akah et al ; Sirisha et

*Synclisia scabrida* Pre-clinical Alkaloids & flavonoids Akah et al ; Orisakwe

triterpines

principles & phenols

*Turnera ulmifolia* Pre-clinical Flavonoids Antônio et al

tannins

triterpenes

*Tetrapleura tetraptera* Pre-clinical Unknown Noamesi et al *Guibourtia ehie* Pre-clinical Unknown Noamesi et al

*Calligonum comosum* Pre-clinical Unknown Liu et al

**Plant Scientific** 

*Azadirachta indica* Pre-clinical &

*Glycyrrhiza glabra* Pre-clinical &

clinical

clinical

(Noamesi et al., 1994).

leaves of Solanum torvum produced significant anti-ulcer activity in HCl/ethanol, indomethacin, pylorus ligation and cold-restraint stress induced gastric ulcers in rats. The authors proposed that the cytoprotective activity of extracts could be due to strengthening of the mucosal barrier through the increase of mucus production (Nguelefack et al., 2008). *Tetrapleura tetraptera* and *Guibourtia ehie* Leonard are native trees to Ghana. The Ghanaian ethnomedical system employs these plant extracts in the management of stomach ulcers. In support of their traditional use, aqueous extracts of the barks of *Tet. Tetraprera* and *G. ethie* dose dependently inhibited HCl/ethanol induced gastric ulcers
