Diuretic activity of an aqueous extract of Phyllanthus sellowianus

Phyllanthus sellowianus Muell. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) is used widely as a hypoglycemic and diuretic agent in South American folk medicine. In order to assess the diuretic activity of this plant, test animals were treated with a single oral administration of an aqueous extract (5% w/v) of the stem bark of P. sellowianus (400 mg/kg body weight), which produced after 8 h a significant increase in the urinary excretion. In the studies on acute toxicity in mice neither mortality nor neurobehavioral or autonomic profile changes could be observed.