Effect of Ethanolic Fruit Extract of Adenopus Breviflorus (Lagenaria Breviflora Robert) on Hematological Indices in Male Albino Wistar Rats

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of ethanolic fruit extract of Adenopus breviflorus (EEAB) on hematological indices in male albino rats. Phytochemical screening was carried out on the fruit of A. breviflorus sample. The effect of the extract on the histology of the liver tissues was also investigated. Thirty (30) male albino rats were randomly divided into 5 groups (n= 6) rats each. Group 1 served as the control and was administered 2mL distilled water. The remaining groups received 100, 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg/b.w.t/day of EEAB respectively orally over a period of 28 days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, the effect of administration of this extract on hematological parameters were determined in the plasma using standard techniques and the data were analyzed using ANOVA and the level of significance was at P<0.05. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of saponins (tripterpenoids). The oral lethal dose (LD50) of the ethanolic extract was determined to be above 5000mg/kg BW. Results also indicate that treatment with all doses of EEAB caused no significant change in the hematological parameters except the platelets (PLT) that was significantly decreased (P<0.05) in animals administered 400mg/kg/b.w.t of EEAB when compared with the control. Routine H and E histological study revealed no features of hepatotoxicity. The study suggests that ethanolic fruit extract of A. breviflorus did not exhibit any significant effect (P<0.05) on hematological indices of albino rats at all the administered doses of the extract while it produced a significant reduction on platelet count at administered dose of 400mg/kg b.w.t and may be considered safe at all the tested doses.