Effects of <i>Moringa oleifera on the developing cerebrum of young wistar rats

Abstract

The study evaluated the effects of moringa oleifeira on the histoarchitecture of the cerebral cortex, the body weight and brain weight of young wistar rats. Fifteen (15) young wistar rats of both sexes weighing 20-30g were used for this study. They were randomly assigned into three groups (A, B and C) of five rats each. Group A served as control and received distilled water, group B and C received 100 mg/kg and 200mg/kg of moringa oleifera respectively. Treatment lasted for a period of 6 weeks (orally). Rats were weighed and sacrificed under ketamine (30 mg/kg) anaesthesia. The cerebrum was harvested and fixed immediately in 10% formolcalcium, for further histological processing. One-way ANOVA was used to analyze data, followed by Newan-Keuls (SNK) for multiple comparisons. The results showed that there was significant increase in the feed intake of animals in groups B and C starting from the 4th week of administration. There was no significant difference in the relative brain weight and the mean weight of the rats in group B and C when compared with group A. Histological findings revealed that there was slight distortion in group B and more distortion in group C when compared with the normal histoarchitecture in control group A. The results obtained from this study showed that high doses of Moringa oleifera caused damage of some parts of histoarchitecture of the frontal cortex of developing wistar

Key words: MORINGA OLEIFERA; Cerebrum; Frontal Cortex