<i>In vitro</i> evaluation of the effect of <i>Euphorbia kamerunica</i> latex on the blood of albino rat (<i>Rattus norvegicus</i>)

Abstract

The effect of Euphorbia kamerunica latex on the blood of albino rat (Rattus novergicus) was studied. Two different samples were prepared, one with 10% E. kamerunica latex in blood of albino rat and the other, whole blood. Blood from each of the two samples was analyzed haematologically for the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC) and neutrophils. The results of the study showed that there was a drop in all the blood parameters in the blood sample with the latex as compared with the whole blood. The PCV dropped from 17% to 9%, (47.06% reduction), Hb reduced from 5.1g/dl to 3.2g/dl (37.25% reduction), RBC had a three log reduction from 3.7x10¹² to 2.7x10⁹ (99.88% reduction), WBC fell from 4.2x10⁹ to 3.2x10⁷ (99.24 % reduction) while neutrophils dropped from 20% to 15% (25.00% reduction) in the blood with latex. The proximate analysis of the latex revealed that it contains 62.13 ± 0.48 % lipid, 0.16 ± 0.01 % carbohydrate, 3.69 ± 0.05 % protein and 3.86 ± 0.24 % ash. The result of this in vitro study   demonstrated that Euphorbia kamerunica has some toxic effects on the blood of Rattus novergicus.

Keywords: Euphorbia kamerunica, Latex, Rattus norvegicus, Packed cell volume, Haemoglobin, Red blood cell, White blood cell, Neutrophils