Abstract
Herbal medicinal plants constitute an integral component of plant biodiversity whose application for therapeutic purposes has been a common practice since antiquity. However, studies have reported tissue pathologies following exposure to herbal medicinal plants or extracts. This study was carried out to assess the possible pathological effects of sub-acute exposure of methanol extract of Caladium bicolor on the hepatic histomorphology of experimental Wistar rats. Twenty four Wistar rats were divided into four groups A-D. Group A was administered with distilled water (2 ml/kg b.w) and groups B-D administered with 100 ml/kg, 200ml/kg and 300ml/kg b.w. of the extract respectively for twenty eight days. The bodyweight of experimental animals was recorded at regular intervals during the study period. After the treatment period, hepatic tissue was harvested, weighed and processed for histopathological study. The results showed that exposure to the extract causes significant (p<0.05) body and organ weight reduction, a significant increase in serum level of ALT and AST as well as prominent hepatic histopathological changes such as inflammation, necrosis and steatosis. Sub-acute exposure to methanol extract of C. bicolor thereby causes dose-independent hepatopathy in experimental animals. Hence, its application for therapeutic purposes needs to be re-evaluated and preferably discontinued to avoid these associated hepatic tissue pathologies.
Highlights
Herbal medicinal plants constitute an integral component of natural plant biodiversity whose application for therapeutic purposes has been a common practice since antiquity
Some histopathological changes were observed during microscopic examination of hepatic tissue sections of Omotoso, et al
Previous studies have reported that such weight changes can be associated with the deleterious effect of exposure of xenobiotics including certain phytochemical constituents [39,40]
Summary
Herbal medicinal plants constitute an integral component of natural plant biodiversity whose application for therapeutic purposes has been a common practice since antiquity. Their applications have greatly increased in recent years resulting into significant expansion of the field of phytomedicine. Studies by Elvin-Lewis [23] and Mbaka et al [24] have reported toxic effects resulting from applications of certain herbal medicinal plant derivatives. Caladium bicolor (Aiton) is a medicinal plant belonging to the Araceae family and commonly cultivated in and around residential homes due to its ornamental value It is commonly called Angel’s wings, elephant’s ear or heart-of-Jesus. Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
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