COMPARISON BETWEEN STIMULANT AND OSMOTIC LAXATIVES EFFECTS ON LOPERAMIDE INDUCED CONSTIPATION IN BALB/c MICE

Constipation is one of the most prevalent intestinal disorders and is characterized by the presence of hard and dry stools, excessive effort, infrequent bowel movements, abdominal distension and pain, and others. It is common to use laxative medicines as a treatment for this condition1. Considering the different types of those substances, the objective of this paper is to describe the effects of two categories of laxatives on the small intestine transit in experimental constipation model: osmotic and stimulant laxatives. The experiment was conducted with 32 balb/c mice, male, 8 weeks old, split in four groups (n=8): control (water, 10ml per kg body weight), model (constipation with no treatment) and two intervention groups: castor oil, representing stimulant laxatives, and lactulose, representing the osmotic ones. For the induction of constipation, the animals from model and intervention groups received 10mg per kg body weight of loperamide, every day, for six days. Following, the animals from each intervention group received castor oil, at the dose of 10ml per kg body weight, and lactulose at the dose of 2,5g per kg body weight, respectively, 1 hour after loperamide administration. On day 12, after 8h-fasting, the animals received the last dose of treatments following a dose of charcoal meal (10ml per kg body weight), and then were euthanized. Small intestine transit was assessed by measuring the total small intestine length and the distance covered by the charcoal solution. The treatment with lactulose reverted constipation (51,14% ± 17,70), presenting higher small intestine transit when compared to the model group (26,97% ± 13,56). Also, it showed to be a better treatment than castor oil (10,91% ± 14,43, p<0,001). The results found in this study consider lactulose as a less aggressive alternative treatment for constipation, improving intestinal motility and reverting clinical symptoms.