Diarrhea is a major health concern in developing countries with enteropathogenic <em>Escherichia coli</em> (EPEC) being a leading cause of infantile diarrhea. Much of the pathology of EPEC infection is due to the inflammatory responses of infected intestinal epithelium through secretion of pro-inflammatory cytoki - nes such as interleukin (IL)-8. With medicinal plants gaining popularity as prospective antidiarrheal agents, we aimed to evaluate the effect of anti-diarrheal medicinal plants on secretion of IL-8 by epithelial cells in response to EPEC infection. The effect of the decoctions of four anti-diarrheal medicinal plants viz. <em>Aegle marmelos</em>, <em>Cyperus rotundus</em>, <em>Psidium guajava</em> and <em>Zingiber officinale</em> was studied on secretion of IL-8 by a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line, HT-29 infected with <em>E. coli </em>E2348/69. Two protocols were used viz. pre-incubation and post-incubation. The data obtained demonstrated that out of the four plants used, only <em>P. guajava</em> decreased secretion of IL-8 in the post-incubation protocol although in the pre-incubation protocol an increase was observed. A similar increase was seen with <em>C. rotundus</em> in the preincubation protocol. No effect on IL-8 secretion was observed with <em>A. marmelos</em> and <em>Z. officinale</em> in both protocols and with <em>C. rotundus </em>in the post-incubation protocol. The post-incubation protocol, in terms of clinical relevance, indicates the effect of the plant decoctions when used as treatment. Hence <em>P. guajava</em> may be effective in controlling the acute inflammatory response of the intestinal epithelial cells in response to EPEC infection.<p> </p>
Study on effect of anti-diarrheal medicinal plants on enteropathogenic Escherichia coli induced interleukin-8 secretion by intestinal epithelial cells
