African Journal of
Pharmacy and Pharmacology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Pharm. Pharmacol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0816
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJPP
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 2274

Article in Press

Phyto-Bioactive Potentials of Ethanol Extract of Jatropha multifida Leaves and its effect on Prostaglandin and Haematological Indices in Ethanol-Induced Gastric Lesions on Wistar Albino Rats.

Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  •  Received: 13 June 2018
  •  Accepted: 24 July 2018
The use of plants extract in traditional medicine continues to provide the therapeutic needs for greater percentage of the world’s population especially in developing countries. In this study, the phytochemical properties and biochemical responses of some haematological parameters and prostaglandin of gastric lesions to ethanol extract of Jatropha multifida leaves were investigated. The quantitative phytochemical analysis showed that the leaf extract contains alkaloids (5.55 ± 0.003 mg/g), flavonoids (3.93 ± 0.004 mg/g), cyanogenic glycosides (4.44 ± 0.005 mg/g) tannins (5.48 ± 0.004 mg/g), saponins (0.88 ± 0.003 mg/g), steroids (0.88 ± 0.003 mg/g) and terpenoids (0.22 ± 0.003 mg/g). Group 1 rats were the Normal Control, group 2 rats represents Standard Control while group 3 rats were induced but not treated (positive Control). Group 4, 5, 6 and 7 rats were induced except group 7 but pre-treated with 100, 300, 500 and 500 mg/kg b.w. of the extract respectively. The serum prostaglandin level of rats fed with graded doses of ethanol extract of the leaves of J. multifida significantly increased (p<0.05) in all the test groups compared with the positive control. A significant (p<0.05) reduction was observed in the serum prostaglandin level of ethanol-induced rats when compared with the standard control. The ethanol extract of the leaves of J. multifida at various administered doses significantly increased (p<0.05) the red blood cell counts among the treatment groups while the white blood cell count, haemoglobin concentrations and packed cell volume showed a non-significant (p>0.05) increase. Conclusively the various biochemical responses obtained from this research proved the medicinal potential of J. multifida, however this could be attributed to the phytochemicals found in the plant.

Keywords: Jatropha multifida, Anti-ulcer, phytochemicals, prostaglandin.