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ABSTRACT
The use of mercury chloride in preservatives for wood and anatomical specimens, disinfectants, photographic intensifiers, leather tanning, etc makes it a potential risk in the development of hepatotoxicity. Chasmanthera dependens is one of the important medicinal plants that possess a lot of phytochemicals, which plays very important role in medicine. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of aqueous extract of Chasmanthera dependens on the liver of mercury chloride intoxicated adult Wistar rats. 30 adult Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups; each group containing 5 rats. Group A served as control while groups B, C, D, E and F served as treatment groups. The Wistar rats were fed with grower mash feeds and had free access to water throughout the entire study period. Group A which served as control was administered 1ml of distilled water, Group B were administered mercury chloride only (1mg/Kg body weight), Group C were administered Chasmanthera dependens (200mg/Kg body weight) + mercury chloride (1mg/Kg body weight), Group D were administered Chasmanthera dependens (400mg/Kg body weight) + mercury chloride (1mg/Kg body weight), Group E were administered Chasmanthera dependens (800mg/Kg body weight) + mercury chloride (1mg/Kg body weight) and Group F were administered Chasmanthera dependens only (800mg/Kg body weight). The experiment lasted for 68 days. At the end of the treatment period, the rats were anesthetized using chloroform. Blood was collected for biochemical assay. The livers were harvested and weighed and immediately fixed in formal-saline to avoid autolysis and taken through tissue processing. Results showed increased ALP and ALT in group treated with mercury chloride only, while groups administered with Chasmanthera dependens alongside mercury chloride at different doses showed no significant difference when compared with control; indications of normal ALP and ALT activity being restored. Likewise, there was a significant decrease in albumin levels in mercury chloride treated rats and subsequent reversal in groups administered with Chasmanthera dependens alongside mercury chloride at different dose. Histological results showed that Chasmanthera dependens treated liver showed normal morphology when compared with control groups. In contrast, mercury chloride treated liver section showed zonal necrosis, periportal infiltrates of inflammatory cells and vascular congestion. In conclusion, data obtained from this study suggest that aqueous extract of Chasmanthera dependens has a protective potential on mercury chloride induced hepatotoxicity in adult Wistar rats.
