|
Toxicological evaluation
of the aqueous extract of Felicia muricata Thunb.
leaves in Wistar rats
A. O. T. Ashafa, M. T.
Yakubu, D. S. Grierson and A. J. Afolayan*
Department
of Botany, University of Fort Hare, Alice 5700, South
Africa.
*Corresponding author.
E-mail:
Aafolayan@ufh.ac.za.
Fax: +27 866282295.
Accepted
13 January, 2009 |
|
The effect of the aqueous extract of Felicia muricata
leaves at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight in Wistar rats
was evaluated for 14 days. The extract caused significant
increase in white blood cell (WBC) while it decreased the
large unstained cells (LUC). The red blood cell (RBC),
packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV),
mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC),
neurophils, eosinophils and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)
compared favourably with the control. There was no
significant difference in haemoglobin (Hb) and alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) at both 50 and 100 mg/kg, but at 200
mg/kg, there was slight reduction in both parameters. The
extract caused progressive significant increase in platelets
concentration. The lymphocytes level was significantly
higher at 50 and 100 mg/kg. The extract at all doses did not
significantly alter the levels of Na, K, Cl, inorganic
phosphorus, urea, creatinine, total bilirubin, globulin,
total protein, total cholesterol, high density
lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDCL-C) and low density
lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). The liver- and kidney-body
weight ratios were not altered by all the doses except an
increase in kidney-body weight ratio by the 200 mg/kg body
weight of the extract. The concentration of triacylglycerol
was increased by the 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight, while
that of alkaline phophatase did not follow any regular
pattern. There was reduction in the concentration of
aspartate aminotransferase (ALT) from 50 to 200 mg/kg body
weight. The alterations on some hematological and liver
function parameters were an indication that the extract
possessed selective toxicity.
Key
words:
Felicia muricata, hematological parameters, serum
lipids, function indices, selective toxicity. |
