The Preliminary Study on the Histopathological Effect of Aqueous Extract of Zingiber officinale on Lead Acetate Induced Toxicity of Adult Sprague- Dawley Rats

Abstract

Lead Acetate is one of the environmental pollutants that can threaten the life of living creatures in many ways. The use of plant derived herbal compounds in herbal preparations as alternative sources of medication has continued to play major roles in the general wellness of people all over the world Farombi 2003; Rajesh et al. [1], Ekor [2]. However the treatment with the extract of Zingiber officinale modulates the toxicity caused by lead acetate administration. The aim of this study is to investigate the ameliorative properties of ginger on lead acetate induced on kidney induced toxicity. A total of forty adult rats of weight 150 ± 20 g were used for this research. The animals were grouped into four (A, B, C and D) of 10 animals each. Group A-C was the treatment groups while group D served as the control. Group a received 0.4 g of Lead Acetate, Group B received 0.4 g of Lead Acetate and then 0.1g of Ginger, Group C received 0.1 g of Ginger and Group D received 1 ml of distilled water. The mode of administration was oral and the study was for 25 days after a 2 week acclimatization period. At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed using ketamine and an anterior abdominal incision was performed and the kidney was excised. The organs were fixed in 10% formal Saline and processed for histology. The histological findings revealed cytoarchitectural distortion in the podocytes, dilation in the capsular space and cells with pyknotic nuclei in the distal and proximal convoluted tubules in the Group A and to lesser extent in Group B compared to normal cyto architectural photomicrographs obtained in the Group C and D. These findings thus underlined the protective effect of Zingiber officinale in Lead acetate induced toxicity as it affects ultrafiltration as well as tubular fluid reabsorption properties of the kidney.