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ABSTRACT
Funtumia elastica popularly called the African rubber tree is majorly known for its medicinal properties as it's known to contain diverse phytochemical components including flavonoids, tannins, saponins, alkaloids which are responsible for its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti inflammatory, wound healing as well as analgesic properties. The kidney is a vital organ of the body responsible for the regulation of the concentration of various ions of chloride, sodium potassium and bicarbonate in the plasma and extracellular fluid volume and content by the excretion of metabolic waste like urea and creatinine. This study was aimed to measure the effects of Funtumia elastica ethanolic extract on the levels of kidney excretory products and it's histology. Twelve male Wister albino rats were divided into four groups of three animals each. Group one served as the control, group two, three and four were given 200mg/kg, 500mg/kg and 1000mg/kg body weight of the extract. The results demonstrated significant correlation between the control and the treatment groups. There was a significant increase (p<0.05) in the mean ± SEM of serum chloride of group two (66.64 mmol/l) compared to the untreated control group (56.65 mmol/l) while group three and four showed significant decrease (46.24 and 55.89 mmol/l) respectively. The mean ± SEM of concentrations of creatinine in the treated groups two, three and four (0.1567, 0.550, 0.363 mg/dl respectively) decreased (p>0.05) compared to the control group (0.444 mg/dl). Similarly, there is a significant increase (p<0.05) in serum bicarbonate concentration of treated group (26.71, 24.68 and 22.69 mmol/l) compared to the untreated control group (12.34 mmol/l). Histological observation of the kidney also showed normal glomerular and tubular architecture thus suggesting normal kidney functionality.
