Histopathological and haematological effects of ethanolic extract of <i>Hyptis suaveolens</i> on Wistar rats

Abstract

The need to identify medicinal plants that can be used in the treatment and control of malaria and other protozoal parasitic diseases is underscored by the increasing resistance of Plasmodium species to hitherto widely used anti-malarial drugs such as chloroquine and more recently quinine. Consequently the necessity to develop new agents for malaria chemotherapy. Hyptis suaveolens (family: Labiatae) a plant traditionally used in the treatment of fever, as well as related diseases and for repelling mosquitoes was screened for this purpose in the present study. The activities of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of this plant were investigated on the histology and haematology of Wistar rats. A total of forty Wistar rats were used for the various aspect of the study. The LD₅₀ of the extract was found to be 1264.91 ± 0.51mg/kg [I.P] in mice and rats. Weight loss was observed in male and female rats to be insignificant (p<0.05). The histopathology of the organs in treated animals showed no significant difference as compared with that of the control (p<0.05]. Haematological parameters of treated and controlled animals did not show any significant difference (p<0.05). The relative safety of ethanolic extract of H. suaveolens on vital organs and haematological parameters of test animals may suggest its safety for humans.

Keywords: histopathological, haematological, ethanolic extract, Hyptis suaveolens, Wistar rat