ABSTRACT
Rauwolfia vomitoria is a plant used for the treatment of insanity. The possible adverse effects of crude ethanolic root bark and leaf extract of the plant on Nissl substances of albino Wistar rat fetuses were studied using 25 mature female Wistar rats. The animals were divided equally into 5 groups, labeled A, B, C, D, and E. Group A was the control, while groups B, C, D, and E were the experimental. The female rats were mated with the males overnight, and the sperm positive day was designated as day zero of pregnancy. Oral doses of 150 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg body weight of the root bark extract were administered to groups B and C animals, respectively, while groups D and E animals received 150 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg body weight of the leaf extract, respectively, from day 7 to 11 of gestation. On day 20 of gestation, the rats were sacrificed, the fetuses brains extracted, and the cerebral cortices excised and routinely processed for Nissl substances using Cresyl fast violet staining method. Results showed reduced staining intensity of Nissl substances in the treated groups, especially those that received the root extract. Thus, the herbs may have adverse effects on protein synthesis within the cerebral cortex.
ABSTRACT
Activity of Carica papaya. Linn. (commonly known as paw-paw.) seed extract in liver physiology of albino (Wistar) rats was studied. The MeOH extract of C. papaya. seeds were Soxhlet extracted. Tolerated doses of C. papaya. were estimated in acute toxicity studies and administered orally, single or repeated doses, for 30 days to adult male rats weighing between 190 and 200 g, which were divided into four groups of five rats per group. Group 1 received 10 mg/kg; group 2 received 50 mg/kg; group 3 received 200 mg/kg; group 4 received normal saline (1 ml/rat) as control. Twenty-four hours after treatments, the animals of all groups were sacrificed and blood samples collected by heart puncture into centrifugal tubes. The blood samples were allowed to coagulate before centrifuged at 400 rpm at 4°C for 15 min to separate the serum for enzyme assays. A portion of liver was cut off and fixed in 10% normal saline. The result showed that C. papaya. seed extract treatments caused elevation of rat serum levels of acid phosphatase (ACP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and aspartate amino transferase (AST). Also revealed was mild to severe metaplasia of hepatocytes in a dose-related manner as well as proliferation of Kupfer cells and hepatic cells cirrhosis. These biochemical and pathological changes indicated liver cell damage and malfunction. These results, therefore, suggest that seeds of C. papaya. should be used in herbal medicine with care to avoid toxicity.
