Abstract

HAEMATOLOGICAL, BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL TOXICITY OF THE ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF MASSULARIA ACUMINATA (G. DON) BULLOCK EX HOLY. (RUBIACEAE) STEMS IN RAT

Moussa Gbogbo*, Eugène Allali Koffi, Elisée Kouassi Kporou, Sita Traore, Bognan A. Auguste Jacques Ackah and Paul Angoué Yapo

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Abstract

Massularia acuminata is a medicinal plant used in the treatment of various ailments and particularly as an aphrodisiac. In order to verify its safety, the ethanolic extract of its stems was administered orally daily for 28 days to three groups of Wistar albino rats at 40, 80 and 160 mg/kg body weight. The control group was given distilled water. Blood samples were taken at the end of the experiments to determine the effect of the extract on haematological and biochemical parameters. After the rats were killed, the liver, kidneys and heart were removed and preserved in 10% formaldehyde for histological sections. This study showed that the repeated administration of the ethanolic extract of the stems of Massularia acuminata did not cause any significant disturbance of the red blood cell and haemoglobin levels compared to the control batch. However, white blood cell and platelet levels were altered in the treated groups compared to the control group. Biochemically, the ethanolic extract of M. acuminata stems did not alter the enzymatic activity of Sgpt and Sgot transaminases, as well as creatinine and urea. Histologically, the relative masses of the liver, kidney and heart of the treated groups were not altered compared to the control group. No lesions were observed in kidney and heart tissue in any of the experimental groups. In contrast, apoptosis was only observed in 30% of the rats in the batch treated with the extract at 160 mg/kg body weight. In sum, this study suggests that the ethanolic extract of the stems of Massularia acuminata would not show harmful effects at doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg body weight in rats during subacute administration.

Keywords: Massularia acuminata, Rats, Haematology, Blood biochemistry, Histology.