Alfavaca Aqueous Leaf Extract Protective and Ameliorative Effects on Lead Induced Hippocampus in Wistar Rats

Abstract

There is a claim that using medicinal plants carelessly can be dangerous. The consequences of consuming numerous of these plants over time on the brain have remained a mystery. Alfavaca is one of such numerous herbs commonly used in Nigeria. This research was done to find out how Alfavaca leaf extract affected the hippocampus of wistar rats that had been exposed to lead acetate. There were five (5) groups of twenty-five (25) Wistar rats, each with five (5) rats. Group one (1) is a control group that merely received water and a typical rat meal, the experimental group consisted of Groups 2, 3, 4, and 5. These groups received aqueous Alfavaca leaf extract at a dose of 252.98 mg/kg/day for 35 days, 180 mg/kg of lead acetate for 21 days, 126.49 mg/kg bwt of Alfavaca leaf extract for 21 days, and 180 mg/kg of lead acetate for 21 days with a dose of 252.98 mg/kg bwt for 35 days, respectively. Rats were euthanized after the treatment period. For the collected brain tissue, the hippocampus, histological, biochemical, and stereological tests were also carried out. Malonaldehyde, Superoxide Dismutase, Glutathione, and Catalase levels in the hippocampus decreased significantly when compared to control (group I), indicating that the regeneration of injured glia cells (Gliosis) was fairly evenly distributed throughout groups. The current study's findings further imply that alfavaca extract is a potent positive attenuator of the histo-architectural framework of a degenerating brain tissue. Similar studies on other areas of the brain are highly recommended.