Chronic toxicological evaluation and reversibility studies of <i>Moringa oleifera</i> ethanolic seed extract in Wistar rats

Abstract

This study evaluated the chronic toxicity and reversibility Potential of Moringa oleifera seed in Rats. Forty-four Wistar rats were randomized into four groups of 11 rats each, three groups were treated with doses of 50, 200, and 800 mg/kg of MOESE p.o, for 90 days while one group served as control and was administered distilled water p.o. After 90 days, half of the animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected for determination of biochemical and haematological parameters; antioxidants and malondialdehyde (MDA); sperm count, motility and morphology. Organs were harvested for weight determination and histopathological assessments the liver. The other half were left for another 30 days without treatment with the extract, after which they were sacrificed. MOESE produced significant reduction in food and water intake, relative weights of liver, heart, testes, lung and spleen at all treatment dose, these changes were overall small magnitude, within the range of historical control. There was significant increase in AST (200 and 800 mg/kg), LDH (200 mg/kg), ALP (800 mg/k), albumin (800 mg/kg) and K⁺ (800 mg/kg), but decrease in serum Ca²⁺ (50 and 200 mg/kg). A significant increase in serum antioxidant was observed at all treatment doses, while semen pH were reduced. These effects on organ relative weights and all biochemical parameters except AST and ALP were reversed after 30 days of the reversibility study. Histopathological presentations showed necrosis in the liver (50 and 200 mg/kg). Our study demonstrated that ethanol extract of Moringa oleifera seeds could cause infertility in male rats due to decreased semen pH. Our results also showed that the extract may be hepatotoxic due to persistent high level of AST and ALP even after cessation of exposure to the extract, this is also consistent with the histopathological results that shows hepatic necrosis associated with chronic exposure to the extract.

Keywords: Moringa oleifera seed, Toxicity, Wistar Rats