Abstract
Paracetamol toxicity due to overdose amongst people living in the developing countries has been on the increase. This study investigated the amelioration potentials of Vernonia calvaona ethanol leaf extract in paracetamol-treated rats. Thirty five Wistar rats were divided into five groups of seven rats each. Hepatic damage was induced by administering 2 g/kg b.wt of paracetamol p.o for four day to all the groups except group 1 (normal control). This was followed by 21 days treatment with crude ethanol extract of V. calvaona (VC) leaf as well as vitamin E. Group 2 received 2 g/kg b.wt of paracetamol while groups 3 and 4 received 200 and 400 mg VC extracts/kg b.wt, respectively. Group 5 received vitamin E 100 mg/kg b.wt. and histology of the liver, respectively. The result showed a significant (p˂0.05) increase in serum alanine transferase (ALT), aspartate transferase (AST) and ALP during the pre-treatment phase while the treatment phase indicated a significant (p˂0.05) reduction in the serum ALT, AST and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels in a dose dependent pattern relative to the controls. The 400 mg VC extract/kg b.wt and the vitamin E 100 mg/kg b.wt reversed the levels of these enzymes to a non-significant (p˂0.05) difference relative to the controls. The histology of the liver in the VC extract treated groups indicated regeneration of the hepatocytes when compared to the control. It is therefore suggested that crude extract of V. calvaona leaf possesses protective effect against paracetamol induced hepatic damage in rats. Key words: Amelioration potentials, liver function biomarkers, Vernonia calvoana.
Highlights
Medicinal plants have often played very significant roles in African societies and the world over
The results of this study on the amelioration of paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in albino Wistar rats using crude extract of V. calvaona leaves are presented in Table 1, Figures 1 to 3 and Plates 1 to 5
The effect of treatment on serum aspartate transferase (AST) levels of paracetamol treated rats showed that the AST levels of the paracetamol (2 g/kg b.wt) treated group and 200 mg V. calvaona extract/kg b.wt treated group were significantly (p0.05) high compared to the control group
Summary
Medicinal plants have often played very significant roles in African societies and the world over. The rich biodiversity of the tropics makes it a potential source of medicinal phytochemicals. There are nearly about 12,000 secondary compounds identified in science as reported by Obeten et al (2017). Necessitating, the current research interests in ethno-medicine, ethnobotany, and ethno-pharmacology (Olowokudejo et al, 2008). About 250,000 species of flowering plants have been reported to occur globally, and approximately half (125,000) of these species are found in the tropical forests. Only about one percent of these tropical species have been investigated for their chemical and therapeutic potentials (Jachak and Saklani, 2008).
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