Evaluation of herbal formulation for diuretic activity in experimental animals

Abstract

Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the diuretic activity of herbal formulation (Gokhru Kadha). To investigate/propose probable mechanism of action of herbal formulation. Method: Animals were divided into 5 groups of 6 Swiss mice each. Group 1 served as control and administered with vehicle. Groups II, III and IV: Served as treatment group and a single dose of 20 mg, 40 mg and 60 mg/kg of HF administered orally to group II, III and IV respectively. Group V: Served as standard, treated with furosemide (10 mg/kg), and dissolved in 0.9% normal saline with CMC. Two days prior to experiments, mice were kept in metabolic cages with free access to food and water for acclimatization. Four hours before testing, the animals were fasted, with free access to drinking water only. All animals were given an oral loading of normal saline (5% by wt.). For Acute- Freshly prepared doses of test and standard drug were administered to test and standard animal group respectively. Immediately after dosing, animals were kept in metabolic cages for 6 hours and finally urine was collected, measured and filtered at the end of 6 hours 8 for various biochemical estimations. For Chronic- Daily doses of test and standard drugs were given to 4-hour fasted test and standard drug animal groups respectively for 8 days. Urine volume, urinary electrolyte level will be estimated on 24 hrs. collected urine. On 8th day, additionally urinary glucose will be estimated. Result: The Polyherbal formulations produced significant increase in Na+, K+, Cl- excretion, caused alkalinization of urine, showed strong Diuretic index, saluretic index and Natriuretic index. The higher dose of HF produced comparable effect to that of furosemide. Conclusion: As evidenced by the outcome of this study, it is reasonable to infer that the gokhru Kadha possess a significant diuretic activity in mice. Further in-depth studies are required to assess the diuretic activity in combination with the synthetic drugs and to elucidate possible mechanism of action.