Abstract

THE EFFECTS OF ALCHORNEA CORDIFOLIA ON THE PHARMACOKINETICS OF CIPROFLOXACIN IN RATS

*Benjamin U. Ebeshi1, feanyi A. Igbo and Lucky L. Nwidu

Abstract

Background: Plant extracts from herbs may augment or antagonize the actions of prescription and non-prescription drugs through pharmacokinetic and/or pharmacodynamic interactions with such drugs. Objectives: This study investigated the effect of Alchornea cordifolia on the pharmacokinetics of ciprofloxacin in rats in a view to evaluate the impact of herb-drug interactions. Methods: Forty two male wistar rats were divided into five groups of 6 rats per group, each group representing different time intervals of 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 hr, respectively. The 6 rats in each group were further divided into 2 sub-groups tagged groups A and B. Group A received 500mg/kg ethanolic fraction of A. cordifolia and after 30min, 100mg/kg of ciprofloxacin was administered orally. Group B received single dose of ciprofloxacin (100mg/kg) orally. Blood sample was collected into EDTA tubes and centrifuged at 4000rpm for 10min to separate the plasma. The plasma samples were stored frozen at -20oC until analyzed by UV spectrophotometry. Results: Concurrent A. cordifolia administration with ciprofloxacin resulted in increased maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUCcumt) of ciprofloxacin by 14%, and 79%, respectively. However, the Tmax was obtained at 1 h for both ciprofloxacin administrations with and without the plant extract. Conclusion: The study suggests that Alchornea cordifolia possesses chemical constituents, which could inhibit the metabolism of ciprofloxacin thereby reducing plasma concentration of the drug.

Keywords: Drug-herb interaction; Alchornea Cordifolia; Pharmacokinetics; Ciprofloxacin; Animals.