Histopathologic Changes in Liver and Kidney Tissues from Male Sprague Dawley Rats Treated with Rhaphidophora Decursiva (Roxb.) Schott Extract

Abstract

Rhaphidophora decursiva (Roxb.) Schott is commonly used to treat colon cancer among Chinese community in Malaysia. This study aims to evaluate histopathologic changes in liver and kidney tissues after treated with R. decursiva extract in male Sprague Dawley rats. The rats were divided into 4 groups consisting of 6 rats per group for each acute, subacute and subchronic toxicity evaluations, with a total of 72 rats. All control groups received distilled water (vehicle). For subacute toxicity, the 3 treatment groups received a daily oral dose of the plant extract at 70, 140 or 210 mg/kg for 28 days. As no lethality was observed in subacute toxicity study, similar doses were used for the 3 treatment groups in 90-day subchronic toxicity. Histological examination of liver revealed some abnormal but not significant morphology characteristics. For acute toxicity, liver tissues in group treated with 2100 and 3500 mg/ kg extracts showed presence of activated kupffer cells, sinusoidal dilatation and cytoplasmic vacuolation, same as group treated with 140 and 210 mg/kg extracts for both subacute and subchronic toxicity. However, group treated with 140 mg/kg extract in subchronic toxicity just showed the presence of cytoplasmic vacuolation. Similarly, no significant abnormal histopathological changes were observed in kidneys tissue for all toxicity studies. The presence of granular cast were noticed in group treated with 2100 and 3500 mg/kg extracts for acute toxicity, however, cellular and protein cast only occurred in group treated with 3500 mg/kg extracts. For subacute and subchronic toxicity, granular cast can be observed in group treated with 210 mg/kg extract. Also, cellular can be seen in group treated with 210 mg/kg extract for subacute toxicity. In conclusion, the treatment of R. decursiva extracts did not show any significant toxicological changes as observed by histopathological examination in the kidney and liver tissues for all toxicity studies.