Comparative study on the effects of Alchornea cordifolia and Cassia spectabilis leaf extracts on diclofenac-induced liver and kidney injuries in rats

Abstract

Herbal extracts may be useful in the management of hepatic and renal diseases in humans. Thus, this study investigated the effects of Alchornea cordifolia (ACE) and Cassia spectabilis (CSE) leaf extracts on diclofenac-induced hepatorenal injuries in rats and compared their activities. Adult rats were selected into four groups consisting of 5 rats each. The rats in groups 1 and 2 received normal saline and 11.0 mg/kg diclofenac sodium (DF) by intramuscular route for 5 days respectively. The groups 3 and 4 rats were given 342 mg/kg ACE and CSE respectively by oral gavages for 6 days, after DF exposure as in group 2. About 24 h after treatment, blood was collected from rats; serum was separated and used for estimations of biochemical parameters. The liver and kidney of rats were removed and processed by histological techniques. There was a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the levels of total bilirubin, ALT, AST, sodium ions, urea, and creatinine of rats exposed to DF when compared with normal control. However, treatment of DF-exposed rats with CSE significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the levels of ALT, AST, ALP, sodium ions, urea, and creatinine, while ACE significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the levels of ALT, AST, ALP, Na+, and total bilirubin when compared with the DF control. The photomicrographs from histological analyses corroborated our biochemical findings in this study. The current findings have shown that these two evaluated plant extracts may have ameliorative effects on DF-induced hepatorenal injuries in rats but CSE has greater activity than ACE.