You have no items in your shopping cart.
Bronchial asthma is a syndrome characterized by increased responsiveness of the trachea andbronchi to various stimuli and it manifests as acute, recurrent and chronic attacks of wide spread narrowing of airways.This study evaluated the anti-asthmatic effects of garcinia kola seed extract on guinea pigs. Twenty adult guinea pigs of either sex weighing 350-500g were purchased fromthe Animal House of the College of Medicine Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma, Nigeria. They were allowed to acclimatize for two weeks,in the Animal House of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Benin, Benin City. All the animals were given freeaccess to rat pellets and drinking water and were handled in strict compliance with the standardethical procedures for the use of animals in the laboratory. The room temperature of the animal house was maintained at 27 ± 2°C with 12 h light/dark cycle. After acclimatization, the animals were divided into 5 groups consisting of 4 guinea pigs each.Group1,guinea pigs were sensitized with albumin alone. Group 2, guinea pigs were administered 25mg/kg of 70 % ethanol extract of Garcinia kola. Group 3, guinea pigs were administered 50mg/kg of 70 % ethanol extract of Garcinia kola. Group 4, guinea pigs were administered 100mg/kg of 70 % ethanol extract of Garcinia kola. Group 5, guinea pigs were administered with 0.5mg/kg of Salbutamol orally and they were also sensitized with ovalbumin. The guinea pigs were sensitized by being given100mg/kg ovalbumin intraperitoneally. The treatment started at day 2 after grouping and ended amonth before histamine exposure, animals were exposed to histamine 0.2% in a glass chamberwith nebulizer. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and differences between samples were determined byTukey's multiple comparisons test and all data were analyzed using graph pad prism (UK) software version 6. The results were presented as Mean± S.E.M.(Standard Error of Mean) and *P<0.05 indicate significant difference between compared data(Hematologyindicesinbloodcomparedtoasthmacontrol).Theresultsfromthisstudyshowsthatthe 70 % ethanol extract of Garcinia kola at 25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and salbutamol (0.5mg/kg)increase the latency to pre-convulsive dyspnea compared to the Asthma control.In conclusion,this study shows that Garcinia kola has good anti-asthmatic and antioxidant properties and wasobservedtocauseadecreaseinerythrocytesindiceswhichmaycauseanemia.Thus,anunregulatedlong-term consumption ofGarciniakola is discouraged.
