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ABSTRACT
Stomach ulceration is a serious disease affecting individuals even without their knowledge as it is not as popular clinical diseases like malaria and typhoid fever. Newbouldia laevis (N. laevis) leaf is from a woody perennial plant widely known for its medicinal effects and as a boundary/ornamental plant. The World Health Organisation (WHO, 1997) estimates that 80% of some Asia and African countries presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. A wide variety of compounds that are used to perform important biological functions have been reported to be synthesized by plants. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of aqueous leaf extract of Newbouldia laevis in mercury (||) chloride induced gastric damage in adult wistar rats. A total of twenty five adult Wistar rats of either sexes, weighing between 110-200g were randomly assigned into five groups (A, B, C, D & E), each group containing five rats. Group A served as the control while groups B, C, D and E served as treatment groups. The rats had free access to feed (grower mash, Top Feed mills, Nigeria) and water ad libitum throughout the entire study period. Group A which served as control were administered 1ml of distilled water; Groups B, C and D were orally administered aqueous leaf extract of Newbouldia laevis at doses of 200, 400 and 800mg/kg per body weight respectively; Group E was treated with mercury (||) chloride only; for 28 days with the use of orogastric tube. Thereafter, the rats were sacrificed through chloroform anaesthesia. Rat stomachs were harvested and immediately fixed in 10% formal saline and taken to the histopathology laboratory of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) for tissue processing, hematoxylin and eosin stains for histological studies and analyses. Results show there were significant increase (p<0.05) in body weight and there were no significant differences in the organ weight and the organosomatic index of the Wistar rats. These showed that Newbouldia laevis had ameliorative effects on the damages induced by mercury (||) chloride on the stomach proving its anti-inflammatory activity effects on the organ. Histological slides show mucosal lining devitalization (ulceration) and mucosal vascular stenosis of which graded doses of Newbouldia laevis reversed lesions induced by mercury (||) chloride. In conclusion, Newbouldia laevis leaf extract attenuated the histopathological damages caused by mercury (II) chloride on the stomach of the Wistar rats in a dose-dependent-pattern.
