Repeated Exposure of Herbal Concoction Imprints Toxicological Implications through Redox Imbalance in Male Wistar Rats

Aim: A Large percentage of the Nigerian populace consumes herb concoction prepared by local vendors without due regard to quality control such as toxicity and validity testing. The present study assessed the toxicological effects of continuous intake of some locally prepare herbs in male Wistar rat.

Materials and Methods: The animals (n=50) were exposed to 2.5 ml/kg b.w of herbal concoctions sourced from ten (10) different vendors for four (4) weeks. Control animals (n=5) received distilled water for the same period. Plasma AST, ALT, urea, creatinine and erythrocyte SOD and lipid peroxidation were evaluated. Hepatic reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, lipid peroxidation were also assessed spectrophotometrically. Histological changes in hepatocytes were examined. ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test was used to analyze the results with p= 0.05 considered significant.

Results: Plasma transaminases and urea significantly reduced while increase (p = 0.05) was observed in the level of creatinine in most of the treated groups relative to the control group. Some Herbal concoctions induced a significant decrease (p = 0.05) in liver GSH concentration and GPx activities while some induced non-significant reductions in SOD activities. Significant increase (p< 0.001) in the levels of erythrocyte and liver malondialdehyde was the hallmark of the observations in the treated groups. Hepatic histopathology revealed that there were disruptions of hepatic architectures, congestion as well as infiltration of mononuclear cells.

Conclusion: This study indicates that the continuous intake of locally formulated herbal concoction disrupts erythrocyte and hepatic redox balances and hepatic architecture and functions.