Effect of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Ocimum gratissimum on Antiretroviral Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Rats | Chapter 13 | Recent Advances in Biological Research Vol. 4
Aim:
Hepatotoxicity, among other adverse effects, constitutes one of the greatest
impediments to successful antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) in HIV/AIDS
patients. The main objective of the study was to determine if the aqueous leaf
extract of Ocimum gratissimum has a protective effect on ART-induced
hepatotoxicity in rats.
Place
and Duration: Department of Pharmacology,
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu University, Nigeria (six months duration).
View Volume: https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rabr/v4
Methodology:
Twenty five (25) albino rats of both sexes were divided into 5 groups of 5 each
and treated as follows: Group A (no antiretroviral drugs, no extract); group B
(antiretroviral drugs alone); group C (extract alone); group D (antiretroviral
drug plus 40 mg/kg extract); group E (antiretroviral drug plus 80 mg/kg extract).
All treatment lasted for twenty eight days. Blood samples were collected and
serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) determined
using UV-spectrophotometer. Thereafter, the animals were sacrificed and their
livers harvested and examined histologically. The mean (± S.E.M) of data were
calculated and further analyzed for statistical significance using graph Pad
Prism 5.0.
Results:
Mean serum ALT were 35.6±6.4, 54.0±9.4, 53.8±22.9, 90.5±21.9, 86.5±13.9 and
that of AST were 143.8±19.7, 205.2±14.9, 58.0±27.9, 162.3±41.4, 150.5±44.8 for
groups A, B, C, D, and E respectively. There was a statistically significant
difference between the mean values of serum AST for group B and those for group
C (p value of 0.016). However there was no statistically significant difference
between the ALT values for the test and control groups of rats (p value >
0.999). Also, there was no statistically significant difference between the
mean values of AST for group B and those
of groups A, D, E (p value = 0.659). The
histology report for the liver was normal for all groups.
Conclusions:
This extract did not produce significant reduction of serum ALT and AST in
ART-treated rats in this study However, this reduction in serum
aminotransferases was not observed in the groups that received antiretroviral
drugs plus the extract. These statistical findings show that there was no
statistically significant difference in serum ALT and AST between the exposed
and control groups (p > 0.05). Consequently, the null hypothesis was
accepted and the alternative hypothesis rejected. Therefore, it could be
concluded that at the doses of ART and extract and length of exposure used in
this study, aqueous leaf extract of Ocimum gratissimum did not reduce the serum
level of ALT and AST in rats.
Author(s) Details
Associate Professor Peter
Ughachukwu
Department of Pharmacology
and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University,
Nigeria.
Emeritus Professor Paul
Okonkwo
Department of Pharmacology
and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University,
Nigeria.
Dr. Cornelius Nwozor
Department of Human
Physiology, College of Medicine, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University,
Nigeria.
Dr. Joseph Okafor
Department of Anatomy, College
of Medicine, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Nigeria.
Dr. Mrs. Ifeyinwa Nwafia
Department of Medical
Microbiology, College of Medicine, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University,
Nigeria.
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