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Apr 30, 2026Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Caecal Microbiota Profile and Organ Histopathology of Weaner Rabbits Administered Aqueous Leaf Extract of Parquetina nigrescens
Abstract
The caecal microbiota profile, and liver and kidney histopathology, of weaner rabbits administered aqueous leaf extract of Parquetina nigrescens (APNE) were investigated. Twenty-four unsexed weaner rabbits (~400 g) were randomly assigned to three treatment groups in a Completely Randomized Design: T1 (5 mL distilled water, control), T2 (5 mL APNE), and T3 (10 mL APNE), with three replicates per treatment, and APNE was administered orally once daily for 21 days. Caecal contents were subjected to standard cultural and biochemical microbiological analysis; liver and kidney tissues were processed by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) histological technique. Total bacterial count (TBC) was highest in T2 (10.13 ± 1.86 × 10⁶ cfu/mL), but differences across groups were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Nine bacterial genera were isolated; Staphylococcus aureus was the most prevalent across all groups. Klebsiella pneumoniae was absent from T2, while Lactobacillus spp. appeared exclusively in T2. Salmonella spp. counts differed significantly among treatment groups (P < 0.05), with T2 recording the highest count and T3 and T1 statistically similar and lowest. Liver histopathology revealed mild hepatocyte distortion in one T1 replicate, and moderate swelling in one T2 replicate, with T3 showing no observable hepatic lesions. Kidney lesion scores were low across all groups (0.00–0.33). These findings indicate that APNE at the doses administered is generally safe, with significant modulation of Salmonella spp. counts and no adverse perturbation of organ histology in weaner rabbits.
