EVALUATION OF ANTI-DIARRHOEAL ACTIVITY OF BACILLUS COAGULANS MTCC 5856 AND ITS EFFECT ON GASTROINTESTINAL MOTILITY IN WISTAR RATS

Abstract

Probiotics are live microorganisms that confer a number of health beneï¬ts when consumed in adequate amounts. However, the beneficial effects of a probiotic are strain specific and hence each probiotic strain must be evaluated for their application. Thus, the present study was aimed to investigate the effect of Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 on castor oil induced diarrhoea and gastrointestinal (GI) motility using well established rodent models. Rats were divided into 6 different groups with six rats in each group i.e., 1) normal control (no treatment),  2) positive control (loperamide, 1 mg/kg), 3) negative control (maltodextrin) and  4, 5 and 6 treatment groups receiving orally 40, 80 and 160 × 10⁶ cfu/kg body weights of B. coagulans MTCC 5856 spores respectively. Weight of faecal samples was recorded at 4, 8 and 12 h in castor oil induced diarrhoea. Furthermore, in an independent study, GI motility was assessed in fasting rats using charcoal meal as a marker. B. coagulans MTCC 5856 showed dose dependent anti- diarrhoeal activity, and the percentage inhibition of faecal weight  was similar as loperamide group  at a dose of 160 × 10⁶ cfu/kg body weights in 4 h (p>0.05). However, the GI motility inhibition was not comparable with atropine sulphate (0.1 mg/kg body weight) which could be due to its intraperitoneal route of administration. B. coagulans MTCC 5856 elicited anti-diarrhoeal activity and inhibited the gastrointestinal motility in fasted rats. Therefore, B. coagulans MTCC 5856 could be a potential agent in the management of diarrhoea.