Histopathological observations of the liver of albino rats orally exposed to the African black soap (<i>Sabulun salo</i>)

Abstract

Aim: This is to determine the effect of oral administration of the sabulun salo (African traditional black soap) on the liver of albino rats. It is commonly produced and widely used in the Northern part of Nigeria and other parts of the country for herbal medication.

Methods: Twenty (20) albino rats were divided into four groups of three test groups and a control group. The albino rats were administered with different concentrations of sabulun salo for the period of two weeks. The groups (AC, BC and FC) received 2000mg/kg, 3000mg/kg and 4000mg/kg of the sabulun salo respectively. And the control group received normal feed.

Results: At end of the intervention, the albino rats were sacrificed and the livers were removed and processed for paraffin embedding. The blood samples were also collected for the biochemical and hematological analysis. At the end the analysis, the liver presented a normal histo-morphology across all the groups, the hematological and biochemical analysis showed some significant changes in the entire groups and the reduction in water and food consumption as the concentrations increased. There were also significant increased in white blood cell, hemoglobin and packed cell volume in the entire groups except in group FC when compared to the control and a haphazard changes in the blood biochemical parameters

Conclusion: The results of this research have shown that the African traditional black soap (Sabulun Salo) is histologically non toxic to the liver of the albino rats exposed.