Hepatotoxicity evaluation of geophagic clay soil from Uzola, Edo State, Nigeria in albino rats
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Date
2017-09
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Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria.
Abstract
The effect of oral administration of geophagic soil from Uzola on the liver of albino rats was evaluated in this study.
Major oxides composition analysis showed the presence of SiO2 (55.70%), MnO (0.01%), Al2O3 (23.81%), Fe2O3
(3.03%) etc. Forty-five elements were detected and quantified. Zirconium had highest concentration (344.4ppm)
followed by Barium (287ppm) while Molybdenum, Silver, Cadmium and Antimony had the lowest concentration of
<0.1ppm. Rats were divided into 4 groups (i.e. A, B, C and D). Group, A which served as the control, was orally
administered with distilled water while groups B, C and D were orally administered with 400, 800 and 1200 mg/kg
body weight dose of the soil solution respectively. The rats were sacrificed 24 hours after soil solution
administration for 1, 7 and 21 days. Liver alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
activities and concentrations of serum total bilirubin, conjugated bilirubin, total protein and albumin were
determined. There was a significant increase (p< 0.05) in liver alanine aminotransferase and aspartate
aminotransferase activities and serum alanine aminotransferase activities in the experimental animals. Serum total
protein concentration also increased significantly (p< 0.05) in the experimental animals when compared to the
control group but was reversed to control levels after 21 days administration. Available results show that geophagic
clay soil from Uzola, Edo State, Nigeria may have a deleterious effect on liver synthetic functions and may also
cause an overproduction of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in the liver at the doses
considered.
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Keywords
Geophagy, Major oxides, Liver function, Aminotransferases, Hepatotoxic, Uzola