Curative Dose of Khaya grandifoliola. Stem Bark for the Treatment of Gastric Ulcers Using Wistar Rats

Abstract

Optimum therapeutic doses of the aqueous extract of Khaya grandifoliola. (Welw) C.D.C. stem bark, used in traditional medicine for the treatment of gastric ulcers, have been determined. In order to specify the highest dose that can be administered without producing toxic effects, the LD₅₀ of this plant drug was investigated and found to be 5.5 g/kg body weight. This can be compared with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 12.4 mg/kg body weight, which gives 100% inhibition of gastric ulcers in stress-ulcerated rats. The average traditional medical practitioner's (TMP) dose of 8.4 mg/kgbody weight gave 89.3% inhibition, which was the same as an average dose of 0.285 mg/kg body weight of Pepdine (famotidine), a known pharmaceutical anti-ulcer drug used as control.

Keywords:

• Gastric ulcers
• Khaya grandifoliola. (Welw) C.D.C. stem bark
• LD₅₀
• Meliaceae
• therapeutic dose