Five dosages of dihydroartemisinin (DHA) were administered orally in five experiments to five sets of 5 test and 4 control rats. Each group of the test rats was given one of the five dosage regimens of dihydroartemisinin while the control rats received distilled water. The dosages of dihydroartemisinin tested on the Wister albino rats were 1mg/kg , a repeated dose of 1mg/kg,2mg/kg, 60mg/kg and 80mg/kg rat weight. The study found that dihydroartemisinin stimulated the growth and proliferation of the smooth muscles of both the intestinal epithelia and those of the intestinal mucosal glands. These effects of DHA increased with repetition of a dose and with increase in dosage of DHA to a maximal dose of 2mg/kg DHA.These results suggest that orally administered dihydroartemisinin enhanced the physiological functioning of rat intestinal smooth muscles and glands through a direct growth hormone-like stimulation of these tissues.
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