Liver weight changes in wistar rats treated with crude aqueous extracts of <i>Mangifera indica</i> stem bark.

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the weight changes in the liver of wistar rats treated with crude aqueous extracts of Mangifera indica stem bark. Twenty Wistar rats (170-185g) were used for this study. They were subdivided into four groups: A, B, C & D (n=5 each). Group A served as control, while B, C, and D served as tests. For 14 days, group A received normal feed mash and water only, while groups B, C and D received oral doses of 0.25ml (25mg), 0.5ml (50mg) and 1ml (100mg) of aqueous extract of Mangifera indica stem bark respectively. At the end of the experiment, the animals were weighed and sacrificed to harvest the liver for organ weight determination. Results showed no significant increase (p>0.05) in the body weight of the control rats compared to test group; but a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the weight of the liver in group D (p< 0.05) when compared with the control. It suggests that 100mg of Mangifera indica is above the safe dose level for rats and that crude AE of M. indica has no significant effect on somatic growth but caused a significant decrease in liver weight at higher doses.

KeyWords: Aqueous extract, Liver, Mangifera indica, Weight changes,