Inhibitory action on rat uterine muscle contraction in vitro and acute toxicity in rats of the Thai traditional preparation Prasaplai

Abstract

The activity of an aqueous extract of Prasaplai, a Thai traditional medicine, was studied on the isolated rat uterus in the oestrus stage. The results showed that the extract inhibited the contraction induced by a submaximal dose of acetylcholine (2.04 × 10⁻⁴ mg mL⁻¹), oxytocin (1.54 × 10⁻⁴mg mL⁻¹) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) (6.00 × 10⁻⁴ mg mL⁻¹). The inhibition was concentration-dependent and reversible by tissue washing. The IC₅₀ of Prasaplai extracts expressed as milligram of powdered preparation per millilitre of perfusion solution for acetylcholine, oxytocin and PGE₂ were 11.70, 10.00 and 5.75 mg mL⁻¹, respectively. These data reveal that Prasaplai has an antispasmodic effect against uterine contraction by different mechanisms and corroborate the traditional use in the treatment of dysmenorrhoea. Oral administration of single dose of the water extract, calculated as powdered Prasaplai up to 20 g kg⁻¹ in rats, showed no sign and symptom of acute toxicity, and no rat died even at the maximum dose.

Keywords:

• Prasaplai
• Thai traditional medicine
• dysmenorrhoea
• antispasmodic effect
• Zingiber cassumunar

Acknowledgements

Authors would like to thank The Thailand Research Fund (The Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Program) for financial support. We thank Prof. Dr Adolf Nahrstedt for valuable discussion and critical review of this manuscript, and also thank Mr Sumet Kongkiatpaiboon and Mr Panupon Khumsupan for their kind help in preparing the figures and proofreading on this manuscript, respectively.