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The antidiarrhoeal activity of the hexane, chloroform, methanol and aqueous extracts of Waltheria americana, Commelina coelestis and Alternathera repens, was tested on mice with diarrhoea induced by castor oil and MgSO4. The methanol extract of C. coelestis and A. repens and aqueous extract of A. repens, presented antidiarrhoeal effect, monitored by number of liquid feces defecated and intestinal transit of a suspension of graphite with castor oil in Wistar rats.

A new compound, 3-methylenhydroxy-5-methoxy-2,4-dihydroxy tetrahydrofurane, has been isolated from a methanol extract of Selaginella lepidophyla. The structure is based on 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and MS analysis. The compound was tested on uterus (oestrus), ileum and duodenum of Wistar rats. It proved to have a slight inhibitory effect on the contraction response of the uterus, but it did not have any effect on the two other muscles.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease that annually causes many deaths, and to date no really efficient remedy has been found. We studied a number of plants traditionally used in Mexico against diabetes, some of them since prehispanic times. Specimens of each species were collected and extracts from them were tested on CD1 strain mice with alloxan-induced diabetes. Hypoglycemic activity was determined by the O-toluidine and the Dextrostix tape methods. Several of the plants showed a marked hypoglycemic effect.