Ameliorative effect of Ethanol Extract of Annona Muricata Leaves in Sodium Arsenite Induced- Toxicity in Male Wistar Rats

Ingestion of arsenic, a known contaminant in drinking water causes cancer at multiple tissues and there is no cure. Consumption of arsenic contaminated water has been implicated metalloid-induced carcinogenesis. Research is therefore directed at chemoprevention using medicinal herbs for the management of arsenicosis. In this study hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of Annona muricata (AM) leaves was assessed against sodium arsenite (SA) induced hepatic injury in albino rats. The animals were pre-treated with either 250 or 500mg/kg body weight of rat before exposure to SA. SA was dissolved in distilled water and administered at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight on the 7th, 14th and 21st day of the experiment. SA was observed to induce a significant increase (p < 0.05) in serum aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase activities (ALP). However, pretreatments of rats with various doses of AM significantly (P<0.005) reduced serum enzyme levels to near normal against SA treated rats. Furthermore, histopathological observations revealed that treatment with AM extract protected the animals from SA induced liver damage. The results indicated that the leaves of Annona muricata possess hepatoprotective activity on SA induced hepatic injury in rats.