BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF HYDROETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF IRVINGIA WOMBOLU KERNELS ON RAT LIVER AND KIDNEY

Objective: Many plants are consumed as food by humans for growth and survival, but a large number of these plants have not been tested for toxicity potential. Repeated consumption of such plants could lead to accumulation of toxic chemicals in the body and cause health-related problems. Irvingia wombolu kernel is widely consumed by many ethnic groups in Nigeria and some other African countries. The toxicity potentials of Irvingia wombolu kernel extract (IWKE) on the kidney and liver of rats was evaluated in this study. Methods: Three groups of Wistar rats were fed orally with IWKE (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg b.w) daily for 28 days. The fourth group which is the control was treated with distilled water (10 ml/kg b.w) for the same period. The rats were sacrificed on the 29th day, and blood samples, kidney and liver were harvested for analyses. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein, albumin, bilirubin, creatinine, and urea were determined. Kidney and liver sections were examined for histopathological changes. Data were subjected to Student’s t-test for statistical analysis. Results: Serum levels of creatinine and urea were not significantly altered in the IWKE-treated rats compared with the control. At 200 mg/kg b.w, the extract significantly increased (p<0.05) serum levels of ALT, AST, total bilirubin, total protein, and albumin compared with the control. Significant distortions were observed in the liver sections of rats treated with 200 mg/kg b.w IWKE compared with control, but the structure of the kidney section of IWKE-treated rats was not significantly different from the control. Conclusion: The results showed that repeated ingestion of Irvingia wombolu kernel at a dose of 200 mg/kg b.w for 28 days induced liver damage, but does not significantly affect renal function. Peer Review History: Received: 9 September 2021; Revised: 12 October; Accepted: 27 October, Available online: 15 November 2021 Academic Editor: Dr. Ali Abdullah Al-yahawi, Al-Razi university, Department of Pharmacy, Yemen, [email protected] UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file: Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewers: Dr. Sangeetha Arullappan, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia, [email protected] Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Makassar, Indonesia, [email protected] Taha A.I. El Bassossy, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt, [email protected] Dr. Nazim Hussain, North East Frontier Technical University, Arunachal pradesh, India, [email protected] Similar Articles: MYOCARDIAL POTENCY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF HARUNGANA MADAGASCARIENSIS STEM BARK AGAINST ISOPROTERENOL-INDUCED MYOCARDIAL DAMAGE IN RATS PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF RUSSELIA EQUISETIFORMIS AGAINST PARACETAMOL-INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN WISTAR RATS