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ABSTRACT
Acalypha wilkesiana known locally in the hausa tribe of Nigeria as ‘Jiwene’ , ‘awor-oso’ by Yorubas is a traditional herb that has been used for the control of high blood pressure (Ikewuchi et al., 2008), for treating fungal skin infections such as Pityriasis versicolor (Ong, 2006). etc. But as a herbal product, it is important to ascertain its safety. The present study was carried out to observe the haematological effect of the aqueous and methanolic extract of the leaves of Acalypha wilkesiana on adult male Wistar rats. Standard methods were used to obtain and prepare the plant material. Hot maceration was used for extraction. The experimental procedures used on the animals were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Benin, Nigeria. The aqueous and methanolic extracts induced similar effects with both extracts at doses of 1000mg/kg, 1500mg/kg and 2000mg/kg. Red Blood Cell count, Mean Corpuscular Volume were reduced significantly (p<0.05) when compared with the control. Platelet count was also reduced. Total White blood cell (WBC) count was elevated. WBCs such as Lymphocytes and even Granulocytes were elevated suggesting response to an antigen, pathogen or kidney damage as the Granulocytes number was significantly elevated (p<0.05) in the aqueous extract. We can therefore conclude that at the doses used, the extract is toxic and stimulates inflammatory response.
