Effects of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Piper Guineense (Uziza) On The Liver of Paraquat Induced Adult Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

Piper guineense (Uziza in Igbo) is a medicinal plant whose leaves are commonly used as spices.This study is to investigate the effects of the ethanolic leaf extracts of P.guineenseon the histology of the liver, liver biomarker enzymes of paraquat-induced Thirty (30) adult male Wistar rats weighing between 160g – 200g which was randomly assigned to six Groups (A-F) of 5 rats each. The control Group A was not induced with paraquat, while Groups B, D, E and F were induced with 20mg/kg of paraquat. Group C received 200mg/kg of the extract only. After the fourteenth day, groups E and F were withdrawn and treated with 80mg/kg and 100mg/kg of the extract, respectively, for another fourteen days; while Group D was withdrawn without treatment.The results showed that animals in all Groups (P<0.05) except B (-21.67 ± 22.55) and D (-12.21 ± 15.67) had decreased in body weight; severely degenerated hepatic tissue with severe aggregates of intra lobular inflammatory cells, sever intra hepatic haemorrhage and necrotic debris around the haemorrhagic area; These effects were ameliorated in Groups E and F which received the variable doses of the ethanolic leaf extracts of P.guineense. The ethanolic leaf extracts of P.guineense have ameliorative effects on the body weight, serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP, and histologic changes in liver and testes of paraquat-induced Wistar rats.