Effects of Acute Oral Administration of <i>Syzygium guineense</i> Root Extract on the Liver of Albino Wistar Rats

Abstract

Acute oral toxicity is the general side effects that a substance causes after one or more doses are administered over a period of 24 hours.  Syzygium guineense is used in the treatment of diabetes, diarrhea and epilepsy. The purpose of this research was to investigate the  effects of acute oral administration of Syzygium guineense’s root extract on the liver of albino Wistar rats. A total of fifteen young healthy  male albino Wistar rats (8-10 weeks old) weighing between 140g-and 165g were used for this study, which was designed and  conducted in two (2) phases: phase I and phase II. In phase I, twelve rats were divided into four (I-IV) groups of three rats each. Group I  was designated as the control group, while groups II, III and IV were administered with 10 mgkg-1 , 100 mgkg^-1 and 1000 mgkg^-1 respectively. In phase II, three rats were used and shared into three (I-III) groups of one rat each. Groups I, II and III were administered  with 1600 mgkg^-1 , 2900 mgkg^-1 and 5000 mgkg^-1 respectively. Liver function parameters evaluated include albumin, alkaline  phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and total protein. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism version  9.2.0. Results from this research were presented as mean±SEM. There was no mortality in relation to the treatment with the  extract. Alanine aminotransferase and Aspartate aminotransferase increased significantly. Groups administered with 1600 mgkg^-1 (E)  showed enlarged central vein. Therefore, there is need to be cautious when administering the root of Syzygium guineense orally.