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ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants have been used in the treatment of disease conditions in man, since the beginning of history. The danger however posed is that extensive laboratory tests have not yet been done on some of these plants, to know their therapeutic and toxic potential. This could pose a serious health hazard if the plant is ingested inappropriately. The aim of this Project was therefore to evaluate the toxic potential of aqueous extracts of the Acalypha wilkesiana leaves on selected liver function enzymes and liver oxidative stress biomarkers, in thirty two male wistar albino rats. The rats were allowed to acclimatize for two weeks before any studies was carried out, they were well fed regularly and their environments were kept clean. They were also caged, to prevent death by predators. We divided the rats into four groups based on their weights. Group 1 animals served as the control animals that were not administered any extracts. Group 2, 3 and 4 were administered the aqueous plant extract using a gavage, based on their body weight. Acute and Sub-Chronic tests were done on the animals, for the duration of 3 months cumulatively and no deaths were recorded due to administration of the plant extract, which is why we did not need to calculate a lethal dose. At the end of both experiments, the results showed that the plant extract had no significant effect on alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and total bilirubin (P>0.05); but it did however cause a significant increase in direct bilirubin levels, when compared with the control animals. Results done on liver antioxidant parameters also showed that there was a significant increase (P<0.05) in Malonyldialdehyde concentration in the liver and significant decrease in oxidized glutathione peroxidase (P>0.05) levels in the liver. From these findings, it can be concluded that administration of aqueous plant extracts of Acalypha wilkesiana caused an increase in oxidative stress in the liver and lipid peroxidation, after prolonged usage. It is therefore recommend that further experiments be done on the plant to investigate more of its toxic and therapeutic properties, before being incorporated into our diets and everyday lifestyle.
