Evaluating Heart Tissue Changes in Iron Chloride-exposed Rats: Impact of Chasmanthera dependens Methanol Leaf Extract Treatment

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Iron is essential for body metabolic activities but excessive iron exposure poses a significant threat to cardiovascular health due to its role in oxidative stress and tissue damage. Natural iron-chelating agents from plants offer a promising alternative to synthetic chelators with potentially fewer side effects. The efficacy of Chasmanthera dependens as a plant-based cardioprotective agent chelating agent has not been fully explored. This study evaluates the changes in iron chloride-exposed rats and the impact of MLECD treatment. METHODOLOGY: Twenty-five adult Wistar rats averagely weighing between 185-225g were used for this study. They were divided into five rats per groups with daily administration for treatment for twenty-eight days. Group A served as the control group. Group B was given 2mg/kg body weight of FeCl2 only, groups C, D and E with 200, 400, and 800mg/kg body weights of MLECD in addition to 2mg/kg body weight of FeCl2 solution respectively. Rats were euthanized under chloroform and heart harvested and fixed in neutral buffered formalin for hematoxylin and eosin histological staining procedure, and histological slides were examined using light microscope. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Histopathological findings on FeCl2 administration showed myocardial degeneration, coronary vascular ulceration and perivascular inflammation and oedema but MLECD, especially at the lowest dose (200mg/kg MLECD), protected against FeCl2 induced iron-toxicity, consequently proving cardioprotective evidence of MLECD against excessive iron exposure.