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HISTOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF RAUWOLFIA VOMITORIA EXTRACT ON CARBON TETRACHLORIDE INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN ADULT WISTAR RATS

Ezejindu D.N, Okafor I. A & Anibeze C.I.P

More than 900 drugs, toxins and herbs have been reported to cause liver injury and drugs account for 20 – 40% of all instances of fulminant liver fail ure. In the absence of reliable liver protection drugs in modern medicine, a large numbe r of medicinal preparatio ns are recommended for the treatment of liver disorders and quite often claimed to offer significant relief . Rauwolfia vomitoria is a medical herb which has been used over the years for the treatme nt of hypertension, snakebite and nervous disorders. Thi s study was carried out to determine the effects of Rauwolfia vomitoria on rats. Twenty four wistar rats weighing between 100 - 175g were used . The rats were divided into four groups A, B , C and D. Group A animals served as the control and received 0.35ml of distilled water. The experimental groups B, C and D received different doses of drugs as follows: group B received 0.55ml of extract of Rauwolfia vomitoria , group C received 0.41ml of CCl 4 and group D received 0.41ml of CCl 4 + 0.8ml of extract of Rauwolfi a vomitoria. The drugs were administered using intubation method. Twenty fo ur hours after the last administration, the animal s were anaesthetized under chlor oform vapour and were dissec ted. Liver tissues were removed , weighed and trimmed down to a size of 3mm×3mm and fixed in zenkers fluid for four hours for histological studies. The final body weight of group C treated with CCl 4 were significantly higher (p<0.001) than the control and group B and D. The values for groups B and D were similar to that of the control group. Histological results showed distortions of liver architecture in group C and non distortions of liver architecture in group B and D compared to the control. The resul ts revealed that the extract has hepatoprotective effects on drug induced hepatotoxicity of liver tissues .