ABSTRACT
The degenerative and inflammatory changes were reported in cardiac tissues of rats exposed to zidovudine (ZDV). This study was designed to ex-amine the histochemical changes in the myocardi-um of adult Wistar rats exposed to ZDV and ad-ministered with methanolic extract of Buchholzia coriacea (MEBC) seed. Forty-eight healthy Wistar rats weighing 150-155 g. were randomly assigned into eight groups of six rats each. Group A served as control and received distilled water; group B received 100 mg/kg of ZDV; group C received 600 mg/kg of MEBC; group D received 100 mg/kg of vitamin C; group E received 100 mg/kg of vitamin C and ZDV; group F received 150 mg/kg of MEBC and 100 mg/kg of ZDV; group G received 300 mg/kg of MEBC and 100 mg/kg of ZDV, and group H received 600 mg/kg of MEBC and 100 mg/kg of ZDV. Treatment lasted for a period of 56 days. Blood was collected separately into clean capped plain tubes for biochemical parameters. Heartswere excised, fixed in 10% formal saline and pro-cessed for histology. ZDV induced a significant increase in the serum concentration of Nitric Oxide (NO) and Cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) in the ZDV-alone group when compared to control (p < 0.05). Also, there was reduction in activity of the Glutathi-one reductase (GR) enzyme in the ZDV-alone group relative to control (P = 0.0006, F = 7.0). Distor-tion of the cross banding pattern of cardiac muscle fibres in ZDV-alone group was manifested. These effects were reversed by administration of MEBC compared to vitamin C group
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