Histopathological Study of Subacute Administration of Saccharum officinarum Leaf Extract on Some Organs of Rat

Abstract

The leaves of Saccharum officinarum (Family-Poaceae) is employed traditionally for ethnotherapy of malaria and fever among others. Evaluation of subacute administration of Saccharum officinarum leaf extract for possible effect on organs of rats was carried out. The leaf extract (170, 340, 510 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally to Wistar rats of both sexes daily for 30 days and the rats were sacrificed after being subjected to light diethyl ether anesthesia at the completion of the administration. Subacute administration of S. officinarum leaf extract resulted in insignificant improvement in the treated rats body weights, but the weights of brain, heart, spleen, testis and ovary were not affected significantly (p>0.05) when compared to control.  The leaf extract exerted toxic effects which were mild at low dose (170 mg/kg) and moderate at higher doses (340 and 510 mg/kg) on the histologies of brain, heart, spleen and ovary of rats, but no pathological sign was seen on the testis. The effects were found to increase with increasing dose. These could have resulted from the selective toxicity potential of the phytochemical constituents of the leaf extract resulting in localised toxicity of organs.  Chronic study is advocated to investigate the consequences of prolonged treatment of rats with the leaf extract on organs and systems of rats.