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ABSTRACT
Plants naturally contain a variety of chemical compounds that are particularly significant to the medical community. The plant mistletoe is one of these. The term "mistletoe" is typically used to describe plants from three families that share similar hemiparasitic habits and a degree of taxonomical affinity (Loranthaceae, Viscaceae and Eremolepidaceae). In folklore and medicine, the European white-berried mistletoe (Viscum album L.) has long piqued people's interest. The hemiparasitic herb Viscum album L., a member of the Loranthaceae family, has been utilized in traditional Turkish medicine for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders and heart diseases such as hypertension, tachycardia and angina pectoris. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of aqueous extract of mistletoe on the cardiovascular system of lead acetate induced-damage in adult Wistar rat. Twenty-five Wistar rats of 110g-196g weight were used in this experiment. They were grouped into five groups (A-E) consisting of five rats each. Group A which serve as control were administered 1mil of distilled water. Group B, C, and D were orally administered aqueous extract of mistletoe at doses of 200, 400, 800mg/kg body weight with lead acetate of 10mg/kg body weight respectively and group E was treated with lead acetate of 10mg/kg body weight only for 28days, using orogastric tube. On the 29th day the rats were sacrificed through chloroform anesthesia. The rat heart was harvested and fixed in 10% formal saline for tissues processing, hematoxylin and eosin stain for histochemical analyses. Result show there was significant increase (p<0.05) in body weight and no significant change in organ weight. This shows that mistletoe (viscum album) had an ameliorative effect on damages induced by lead acetate toxicant. Histological analysis showed induced damages such a vascular hypertrophy, ulceration, congestion and perivascular infiltrate of inflammatory cells due to the administration of lead acetate. The cardiovascular tissue showed restorative properties in a dose dependent pattern as the Wistar rats were treated with viscum album extract. Histological result revealed that viscum album extract had an ameliorative and cardioprotective effect on the cardiovascular and hematological tissues.
