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ABSTRACT
Chasmanthera dependens is a medicinal plant that has shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and has also proven to be a potential therapeutic agent against liver injury and CCL4- induced toxicity. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of ethanol extract of Chasmanthera dependens on inflammatory markers: MMP-1, MMP-2 and TGF-β1 in CCl4 induced toxicity. Twenty-five (25) male wistar rats were arranged into five groups. All the groups were fed with normal feed and water. Group one was the normal control. Group 2 was the negative control. Group 3, 4 and 5 were all induced with CCL4. While group 3 was treated with a standard drug called silymarin (140mg/kg), group 4 and 5 were treated with Absolute ethanol extracts of Chasmanthera dependens (250mg/kg and 500mg/kg respectively) for a duration of fourteen days. At the end of the experiment, blood was drawn from the heart region, through cardiac puncture, the sample was taken to the lab, and tests were carried out. From the result, it was determined that CCl4 administration significantly increased (p<0.05) the levels of MMP1, MMP2 and TGF-β1 in the liver tissue, while treatment with Chasmanthera dependens significantly reduced (p<0.05) the levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2 in group five and also of TGFβ1 in group four. However and surprisingly, there was a significant increase(p<0.05) in the levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2 in group four, and a slight increase (p>0.05) in the level of TGF-β1 of group five when compared to the negative control group (group two). Therefore the conclusion is that Ethanol extract of Chasmanthera dependens has anti-inflammatory effects and can reduce levels of the inflammatory markers: MMP-1, MMP-2 and TGF-β1 in CCl4 induced toxicity, but is dose dependent.
