Histological Study of the Effect of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Sida Acuta on the Cerebral Cortex of Adult Wistar Rats

Abstract

The pantropical shrub, Sida acuta is a medicinal plant used in the treatment of a variety of ailments. This study was to investigate the effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Sida acuta on the histological feature of the cerebral cortex. Twenty female rats weighing between 150-200g were used for this study. The rats were divided into four groups labeled A, B, C, and D with each group consisting of five rats. Group A served as the control and received distilled water, while groups B, C and D, the experimental groups, received 200mg/kg, 400mg/kg and 600mg/kg of ethanolic leaf extract of Sida acuta respectively for 14 days. The extract was orally administered with the aid of an orogastric tube. Twenty four hours after the last administration, the animals were sacrificed by chloroform inhalation method; the cerebral cortex dissected out and fixed in 10% formal saline for routine histology and thereafter stained using Haematoxylin and Eosin method. Histological observations of the cerebral cortex showed 4 basic zones namely marginal, cortical, intermediate and sub- ventricular, while animals administered with 200mg/kg, and 600mg/kg, showed hyperplasia of cells in the cortical, intermediate and sub-ventricular layers, respectively. Animals that received 400mg/kg of the extract showed hypertrophy of cell in the intermediate and sub- ventricular layers. This result suggests that high doses of ethanolic leaf extract of Sida acuta may cause some neurological disorders; therefore caution must be taken when used for the treatment of various ailments. Key word: Cerebral cortex, Hyperplasia, Hypertrophy, Neurological, Sida acuta, Subventricular.