Effects of Selerocarya birrea (A. rich) hochst (anacardiaceae) leaf extracts on calcium signalling in cultured rat skeletal muscle cells

Sclerocarya birrea is a plant used widely to treat many diseases in Burkina Faso, although no scientific data has been reported about its mechanism of action, In the present study the effects of its leaf extracts were investi gated on calcium signalling in rat cultured skeletal muscle cells. The resu lts show that the different extracts (crude decoction, aqueous, ethanolic a nd chloroformic extracts) have significant antagonistic effect on caffeine- induced calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum. Crude decoction is the most active followed by ethanolic, aqueous and chloroformic extracts in do se-dependent manner and can partly justify the use of the plant in traditio nal medicine. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.