Histological changes in selected tissues of male rats following administration of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Phyllanthus amarus.
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Date
2015
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Nigerian Society Of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Abstract
The effects of oral administration of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Phyllanthus amarus on the histology of brain,
heart, liver, kidney and testes of male Wistar rats were studied. Thirty five rats (212.23 ± 16.14 g) were randomly assigned into
seven groups designated A, B, C, D, E, F and G and were orally administered distilled water (control), 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg
body weight (bw) of aqueous extract and 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg bw of ethanolic extract of whole P. amarus, once a day, for 15
days. The animals were anesthetized and sacrificed after which sections (1 cm thick) of each tissue was cut and processed for
histological analysis using haematoxylin and eosin stains. The photomicrographs were observed under light microscope at x100
magnification. The histological examination of the tissues revealed dose-dependent mild to moderate glomerular inflammation in
the kidney, stressed cardiac tissues in the heart, reduced germ cells in the testes and cytoplasmic degeneration in the liver of rats
administered 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg bw of aqueous extract of P. amarus. In contrast, there was no evidence of
histoarchitectural changes in the rats that were administered the ethanolic extracts of P. amarus except the 400 mg/kg bw that
produced polymorph infiltrations in the hepatocytes, inflammation in the cardiac cells and testicular histoarchitecture when
compared with those of the control rats. The brain histoarchitecture were preserved after the administration of the solvent extracts
of P. amarus. The study revealed that administration of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg bw of aqueous extract and 400 mg/kg bw of the
ethanolic extracts of P. amarus on daily basis for 15 days exhibited structural toxicity on the selected organs of male rats. These
histoarchitectural changes may lead to compromise of the normal functioning of the organs of male rats.
Description
Keywords
Phyllanthus amarus, phyllanthaceae, structural toxicity, histoarchitecture, germ cells, degeneration, inflammation
Citation
Muritala et al., 2015