Effect of Ethanolic Extracts of Lemon Grass and Mango Bark on the Cerebral Astrocytes of Adult Wistar Rats

Abstract

Aims: Lemon grass and mango bark serves as one of the medicinal plants used in Nigeria for the treatment of malaria by traditional herbalists. This study was designed to assess the effects of ethanolic extract of lemon grass and mango bark on the cerebral astrocytes of wistar rats. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria between December 2013 and May 2014. Methodology: Twenty (20) adult wistar rat were divided into four groups, each consisting of five rats. Group A served as the control that received distilled water, while the experimental groups B, C and D received 2000mg/kg ethanolic extract of lemon grass, 2000mg/kg ethanolic extract of mango bark, a combination of 1000mg/kg ethanolic extract of lemon grass and 1000mg/kg ethanolic extract of mango bark orally with the aid of orogastric tube respectively for two weeks and were sacrificed using chloroform. The brain of the rats were harvested and preserved using 10% formal saline. Histological processes were carried out and the tissues were stained using Hortegas. Results: Neurohistological studies carried out revealed hyperplasia of astrocytes in the treated groups B, C and D animals that received 2000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of lemon grass, 2000mg/kg of mango bark and combined 1000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of lemon grass and 1000mg/kg of ethanolic extract of mango bark. There was increased hyperplasia in group B animals that received 2000mg/kg of the lemon grass extract when compared with the control and the treated groups C and D. Conclusion: Thus, ethanolic extract of lemon grass, mango bark and combined extracts of mango bark and lemon grass has the potential to cause neuronal damage as seen in the hyperplasia of cerebral cortex astrocytes.