Abstract
Leafy vegetables are important items of diet in every home and a number of them are medicinal plants that have been used for curing diseases and have been documented in history of civilization. The current study was aimed at assessing the hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis(TO) on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats. The sixteen rats used for this study were randomized into groups A, B,C and D. Rats in groups B, C and D were treated with 150, 300 and 600mg/kg.bwt of the leaf extract respectively by intubation for 28 days while group A served as control. Aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were determined using standard laboratory methods. There was a significant reduction in mean body weight (p was no significant difference in the mean serum ALT activity (p>0.05) in the treated groups compared with control respectively. Therefore, it could be concluded that aqueous leaf extract of TO has hepatoprotective effect. Keywords: Telfaira occidentalis, Liver liver enzymes weight.
Highlights
The use of plants as source as an adjust in the treatment of diseases can be traced back to the prehistoric times 1 and the acceptance of herbal remedy is increasing worldwide, 2 with medicinal herbs been increasingly studied by pharmacological researchers. 3 This has lead to the use of herbs for therapeutic purposes such as headaches, cancer, liver diseases. 4 Following the recent trends, medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety of drugs
The results showed that the initial mean weight obtained in the control animals and those treated with 150mg/kg of T. occidentalis leaf extract did not differ significantly when compared with the respective corresponding values post treatment with T. occidentalis leaf extract (P>0.05)
The result showed that the mean activity of AST and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were significantly different amongst the group (F=23.444, 63.733) (P0.05).The mean (±SEM) of serum AST (IU/L)) activity in the experimental group treated with 150mg/Kg/ body weight of T. occidentalis leaf extract (Group B) was significantly decreased compared with control group (17.00±0.57 Vs 21.66±0.88; p=0.004)
Summary
The use of plants as source as an adjust in the treatment of diseases can be traced back to the prehistoric times 1 and the acceptance of herbal remedy is increasing worldwide, 2 with medicinal herbs been increasingly studied by pharmacological researchers. 3 This has lead to the use of herbs for therapeutic purposes such as headaches, cancer, liver diseases. 4 Following the recent trends, medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety of drugs. 4 Following the recent trends, medicinal plants would be the best source to obtain a variety of drugs. Such plants should be investigated for better understanding of their properties, safety and efficacy.[5] Interestingly, a number of plant source have been shown to exhibit potential therapeutic effects on liver diseases and Telfairia occidentalis (TO) is one such plants to reckon with. Amah et al earlier documented the heavy metal contents of this vegetable in south eastern Nigeria. A number of studies have shown the hepatoprotective potentials of TO 23–28 in various countries including other parts of Nigeria but researches in this regards seems to be scanty in the South Eastern part of Nigeria and the study
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