Antispasmodic Effects of Salvia officinalis in Isolated Ileum of Rabbit

Salvia officinalis has been commonly used in Syria and other Middle East countries in popular medicine for many medical purposes. One of the strong claims about its properties is the spasmolytic effect. The aim of this research was to investigate the spasmolytic effect of ethanolic extract of Salvia officinalis in isolated rabbit ileum preparations. Male rabbits were sacrificed and portions of ileum were isolated and mounted in Tyrode’s solution. Afterwards, the experiments were performed according to different groups with different spasmogenic agents: the first group was only with spontaneous contraction, the second was KCl-induced contractions and the third was Carbachol-induced contractions. The examined extract was added cumulatively in all previous groups. Verapamil was used as a reference. The results showed profound relaxing effect of S. officinalis extract in mentioned groups, especially in the group of KCl-induced contraction. These findings suggest that the main mechanism of the spasmolytic action is related to the inhibition of calcium entry through cell membrane as well as via internal stores.