Ficus glumosa Del. reduces phenylhydrazine-induced hemolytic anaemia and hepatic damage in Wistar rats.

Abstract

Anemia is a direct or indirect consequence of oxidative stress via free radicals on erythrocytes and subsequently on other tissues like liver. Ficus glumosa constitute a rich pharmacologically compound that can prevent or repair oxidative damage. Therefore, this study seeks to evaluate the effect of F.glumosa on phenylhydrazine-induced hemolytic anemia and hepatic damage in rats. Twenty-four (24) albino Wistar rats were assigned to four (4) experimental groups (n=6) as follows: Group I (non-anemic control) and Group 2 (anemic control) received normal saline, while Group III and IV (test groups) 200 and 400mg/kg of aqueous leaf extract of F.glumosa (ALEFG), respectively. All the groups were treated orally (via a cannula) for seven consecutive days. Intraperitoneal (IP) injection of phenylhydrazine (PHZ) at 40mg/kg for two consecutive days induced hemolytic anemia in group II to IV before treatment. Rats of all groups were anaesthetized and sacrificed 24h after the last treatment. Blood and liver samples were collected for some hematological indices, liver function test, antioxidant parameter and histological analysis. The LD50 of ALEFG was assessed orally in rats and found to be above 5,000mg/kg body weight. Significant (p<0.05) decreases in the level of red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB) concentrations and packed cell volume (PCV) by 50% after 2days of PHZ induction, were attenuated by more than 50% after 7days administration of ALEFG at 200 and 400mg/kg. The percentage change in body weight increased significantly (p<0.05) after 7days post PHZ-induced anemia, but those that received oral administration of ALEFG (at 200 and 400mg/kg) for 7days increased significantly (p<0.05) by more than 2%, dose-dependently compared to anemic untreated group. Increased level of serum ALT, AST, ALP and GGT in PHZ-induced anemic animals, were significantly (p<0.05) attenuated in the groups that received oral administration of ALEFG (at 200 and 400mg/kg) for 7days. Decreased level of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities with concomitant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content from PHZ-induced untreated group, were significantly (p<0.05) mitigated in the rats that received oral administration of ALEFG (at 200 and 400mg/kg) for 7days. Histopathological analysis showed that ALEFG could remarkably though not completely mitigated PHZ-induced hepatic damage. Our data suggests that the leaves of F.glumosa contain important antioxidant(s) that could effectively reduce hemolytic anemia and hepatic damage, especially during phenylhydrazine-induced toxicity.