Research Article TheUterotonicScreeningoftheRootExtractof Azanza garckeana (Malvaceae) on Isolated Wistar Rat Uterine Smooth Muscles Alfred Chanda , 1 Freddie Simwinga, 1 Patrick Kaonga, 2 Angela Gono-Bwalya, 3 and Lavina Prashar 1 1 e University of Zambia, School of Medicine, Department of Physiological Sciences, Lusaka, Zambia 2 e University of Zambia, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Lusaka, Zambia 3 e University of Zambia, School of Health Sciences, Department of Pharmacy, Lusaka, Zambia CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoAlfredChanda;chandaalfred23@gmail.com Received 9 September 2020; Revised 19 November 2020; Accepted 21 November 2020; Published 9 December 2020 AcademicEditor:NianpingFeng Copyright©2020AlfredChandaetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Introduction. Azanza garckeana (F.Hoffm.)ExellandHillc.(family:Malvalceae)istraditionallyusedtoinduceoracceleratelabour inpregnantwomeninChongwe,Zambia,andtheplantpartwhichiscommonlyusedaretheroots. Aim.eaimofthisstudywas to screen Azanza garckeana crude extracts for uterotonic activity on isolated Wistar rat uterine smooth muscles. e likely mechanismofactionfortheplantextractwasalsoinvestigated. Materials and Methods.Freshleavesandrootsoftheplantwere collectedandidentifiedbyabotanistattheUniversityofZambia.emethanolandcoldrootaqueousextractswerepreparedby continuousmacerationwhilethehotaqueousrootextractwasextractedusingtheSoxhletmethod.ecrudeextractsoftheplant werescreenedforuterotonicactivityusinguterinesmoothmusclesisolatedfromestrogenisedadultnongravidfemaleWistarrats weighingbetween160gand200g.eactivityoftheplantwasalsoevaluatedinthepresenceofantagonistsandtocolyticagentsto determinethelikelymechanismofaction. Results.ehotaqueousrootcrudeextract(22.26%)hadthehighestyieldfollowedby thecoldaqueous(11.32%)andmethanolextracts(6.26%),respectively.emethanolcruderootextractdemonstratedthehighest potency(EC 50 � 1.28 × 10 −2 mg/ml;95%CI6.418 × 10 −3 to2.564 × 10 −2 ; p � 0.0001),whilethecoldaqueousextractwasthemost efficacious.Salbutamolandnifedipinesignificantlyblockedtheuterotonicactivityoftheextract. Conclusions.isstudyprovides scientific evidence on the uterotonic activity of Azanza garckeana with myometrial calcium mobilization as the possible mechanism of action. 1. Introduction Screeningofherbalmedicinesaccordingtotheirtraditional use is essential and useful as it is documented that 25% of prescriptiondrugsareobtainedfrommedicinalplants[1].It is estimated that there are approximately 250,000 higher plantspeciesworldwide,andofthese,onlyafewhavebeen screened for pharmacological activity according to their traditional use [2]. Indigenous varieties of plants from variousfamiliesareusedbypregnantmothersinruralareas andlow-incomepopulationsofsub-SaharanAfricafortheir uterotonic potential [3]. Approximately 80% of pregnant women in African countriesuseherbalmedicinetoinduceoracceleratelabour [4]. Several plants have been screened for their uterotonic activity using in vitro methods with positive results [5]. In Zambia, about 30–32% of pregnant women use herbal medicine to induce or accelerate labour [6, 7]. One such herbal medicine is Mukole plant which is scientifically known as Azanza garckeana (F.Hoffm.) Exell and Hillc. from the Malvalceae family (http://www.theplantlist.org). e questionnaire structured cross-sectional study by Maluma et al. [7] to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the use of traditional medicines in Lusaka Province, Zambia (in Chawama urban and Chongwe rural communities),foundthatMukoleplant(Azanza garckeana) wasoneofthecommonlyuseduterotonicplants.Mukoleis a vernacular name used by the Nsenga people from the Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2020, Article ID 8873180, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8873180