INVESTIGATING THE EFFECT OF VERNONIAAMYGDALINA ON CADMIUM-INDUCED RENAL DAMAGE IN WISTAR RATS

ABSTRACT

Vernonia amygdalina is a plantspeciesthat is widely used in making traditional medicine in Africa. It has been reported to possess various therapeutic properties, including antibacterial, antimalarial, antidiabetic and antifungal activities (Okoli et al., 2007; Ogbuewu et al., 2015). Cadmium is a toxic non-essential transition metal, It is naturally occurring in the environment as a pollutant that is derived from agricultural and industrial sources. The liver and kidney are extremely sensitive to cadmium’s toxic effects. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Vernonia amygdalina on cadmium induced renal damage on adult Wistar rats. Twenty-five adult Wistar rats, both male and female were assigned into five (5) groups, all rats had equal access to feed and water. Group A; control was given food and water only. Group B was administered cadmium only (5mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 2 weeks. Group C was administered Vernonia amygdalina (1000mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 4 weeks plus cadmium (5mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 2 weeks. Group D was administered cadmium only (5mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 2 weeks plus Vernonia amygdalina (1000mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 4 weeks. Group E was administered Vernonia amygdalina only (1000mg/kg of body weight) for a period of 4 weeks. The Control group showed normal kidney architecture. The group given cadmium only showed massive interstitial vascular congestion and dilatation, infiltrate of inflammatory cells, tubular necrosis. The group given vernonia amygdalina plus cadmium showed normal kidney architecture. There was no ameliorative effect observed for the group given cadmium plus Vernonia amygdalina, the result showed tubular necrosis, interstitial inflammatory cells, congestion as observed in group D. In this study, Vernonia amygdalina showed to be more effective as a protective agent on kidney damage caused by cadmium toxicity in adult Wistar rats than as a curative agent as observed in group C.