EFFECTS OF BROWN RICE ON HAEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF MALE WISTAR RATS

  ABSTRACT

For centuries, rice (Oryza sativa), one of the most well-known cereal foods, has been a primary food for many people around the world and is known to feed half of the population. Brown rice is a whole-grain food that is often assumed to have a lower glycemic index compared to white rice. A few studies have objectively confirmed the effect of a brown rice diet on glycemic control and hematological parameters compared to a white-rice diet. Haematological parameters such as red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC) counts and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration are tightly regulated traits with high clinical relevance. Values outside normal ranges are diagnostic for disorders, including anemia disease, immune diseases and cardiovascular disease. The study was aimed at evaluating the effects of brown rice on hematological parameters in wistar rats. 70 male wistar rats were randomly assigned into 10 groups, groups of 7 rats per cage. The rats were grouped into fat diet, white rice diet, brown rice diet and control diet. The experiment lasted for 20 weeks and acclimatization for  2 weeks. Blood sample were collected via cardiac punture and the sample were then placed in an EDTA bottles and thereafter taken to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) Laboratory for analysis. Data was done using Graph pad prism 8.01 using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare the mean and Tukey port-hoc test to check for significance among the means. The result showed no statistically significant (P > 0.05) findings in the results of all haematological parameters when compared to the control. With the data obtained from this study, It could be concluded that there are no significant effects of  brown rice consumption on haematological parameters of male wistar rats.