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ABSTRACT
Coffee is the world's second most traded commodity, after only crude oil. Its currently consumed by about 80% of the world's population every day and its consumption are expected to rise. Coffee popularity is due to its proposed health benefits and ergonomic effects. Haemostasis is made up of four interconnected systems that work together alongside endothelial cells, platelets, clotting factors, kinin system and serine protease inhibitors to create a haemostatic plugs responsible for arresting bleeding at a site of an injury while permitting normal blood flow elsewhere in the body. This system also largely depends on the liver cells to produce clotting factors, bile and vitamin K to maintain normal haemostasis. Abnormal haemostasis will result in either excessive bleeding or excessive thrombosis which is why it‘s necessary to investigate the in vivo effects of coffee liberica (coffee specie native to west Africa) on the liver and haemostasis. Thirty-five albino rats which served as in vivo models were evenly distributed into seven groups including one control group and six test groups. The test groups were further divided into six: low dose 150mg/kg aqueous extract group, medium dose 300mg/kg aqueous extract group, 600mg/kg high dose aqueous extract dose group, low dose 150mg/kg ethanol extract group, medium dose 300mg/kg ethanol extract group and 600mg/kg and high dose ethanol extract group for 28 days. The parameters investigated are prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin with kaolin (PTTK), liver weights and body weights of test animals employing standard methods while the liver histology was examined using histopathological analysis. There was no statistically significant increase in PT when compared to the control group (P>0.05). The PTTK reduced slightly in group B and C which were treated with aqueous extract of Coffea liberica seed, while PTTK increased slightly in group E, F and G which were the groups treated with ethanol extract, although this increase was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Furthermore, group D was the only group treated with aqueous extract that had slight increase in PTTK. This increase was also not statistically significant.
