RESUMEN
@#Sida acuta (SA) has a variety of traditional uses spanning from its fresh root that is chewed for the treatment of dysentery to hot aqueous extract of dried plant orally administered as diuretic. The aqueous extract of the plant has antimicrobial, antimalarial, analgesic and antiplasmodial effects. This study was designed to investigate the neuroprotective effects of the aqueous extract of the leaves of SA in nicotine-induced cereballar dysfunction. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly separated into the following groups: Vehicle (received distilled water), Nicotine-treated (NIC-treated; received 1.0mg of Nicotine per kg of body weight), SA-treated (received 500mg/kg of body weight of aqueous extract of SA) and NIC+ SA-treated (received 1.0mg of Nicotine and 500mg of SA per kg body weight). The treatment lasted for 28 days and the administration was done daily by oral gavage. The body weight change was monitored using standard animal weighing balance; biochemical assay and cerebellar tissue histology were performed as previously described. The results showed increase in body weight gain and disruption of cytoarchitecture of the cerebellum in nicotine-treated group compared with vehicle-treated group. These alterations of cerebellar morphology may be associated with increased oxidative stress. However, concomitant administration of aqueous extract of SA during treatment with nicotine attenuated cerebellar disruption. The result indicated that administration of aqueous extract of the leaves of SA during treatment with nicotine preserves cerebellar function.