ANTITUSSIVE EVALUATION OF FORMULATED POLYHERBAL COUGH SYRUP

Ethanolic extracts of fruits of Terminalia chebula (Combretaceae), leaves of Mentha piperita (Labiate), leaves of Adhatoda vasica (Acanthaceae), leaves of Ocimum sanctum (Labiateae), rhizomes of Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae), fruits of Piper longum (Piperaceae), roots of Glycyrrhiza glabra (Leguminosae) and roots of Withenia somnifera (Solanaceae) were investigated for their antitussive effect on citric acid induced cough model in guinea pig. The results showed that the formulated cough syrup exhibited significant antitussive activity in a dose dependent manner the activity was compared with the prototype antitussive agent diphenhydramine HCl. It has been observed that the extract has produced 54%, 70%, 75% reduction in cough bouts at the dose level of 1, 2, 3 ml respectively after 1hr of drug administration. It is evident from the data the highest dose of 3 ml was found to be more effective. It is found that antitussive activity produced by the herbal formulation in the minimum dose was much better than the standard drug. Â