Taranjabin, a manna produced by an insect on camelthorn, has been used as laxative in traditional medicine and our previous studies has confirmed this effect. This research has been performed to verify the mechanism behind this effect. In order to assess the possible effect of the drug on intestinal infiltration of fluids into the gut lumen, the jejunum in anaesthetized rats (n=5; pentobarbital sodium: 60mg/kg) was divided into 4 cm segments, and taranjabin (2.5 or 5 g/kg), lactulose (as positive control) or placebo (as negative control) were injected into the lumen of each segment, in a random order. The volumes of the contents in each segment were measured after 1 h. The mean volume of the contents in the positive control segments was significantly higher than that of the negative control (1.7±0.18 vs 0.42±0.05 ml respectively, p<0.01). Similarly, the segments injected with 2.5 and 5g taranjabin had significantly higher volumes of fluids (1.1±0.16 and 1.3±0.13 ml respectively, p<0.01) compared to that of the negative control. According to the current results, taranjabin seems to act as an osmotic laxative.

Keywords