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ABSTRACT
Picralima nitida is a plant commonly found in the dense deciduous forest of West- central Africa and it is medicinal plant widely used in Africa medicine. It is known for its potential antioxidant properties. Antioxidant are enzymatic or non-enzymatic compound put in place to maintain free radical’s activities in the body systems. The malfunctioning of this system leads to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress plays a major role in various pathological conditions such as; Diabetes, Cancer, Aging and so on. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicological effect of ethanol extract of picralima nitida stem bark on antioxidant enzyme parameters (Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), and Malondialdehyde (MDA)) in adult male Sprague-Dawney rats. The histopathology of liver and kidney of the extract was also examined during the course of the research. A total of thirty (30) male Sprague-Dawney rats were used for this study and they were randomly divided into six groups of five rats each. The group distribution was as follows; Group 1 were normal control that were given Distilled water and pellet ration only. Group 2 were fed with 150mg/kg body weight of the extract, Group 3 were Fed 300mg/kg body weight, group 4 were administered 800mg/kg body weight, group 5 were administered 2000mg/kg body weight and group 6 were administered 5000mg/kg body weight of the ethanolic picralima nitida extracts. The period for dosage administration lasted for 28days (4 weeks). Oxidative stress markers were assayed using standard biochemical methods. The results of this study demonstrates that the ethanolic extract of picralima nitida cause slight difference or no significant differences in Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), and Malondialdehyde (MDA) activity in the animal kidney at every dosage administered. The liver, shows reduction in Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and no significant differences in Malondialdehyde (MDA) activities. Meanwhile the result is dose-dependent. The histological evaluation of the liver shows that the liver suffers from toxicity effect from the picralima nitida stem bark ethanol extracts, while the kidney of Sprague-Dawney rats did not undergoes any toxicity that can leads to impairment or pathology in the kidney. Further research is warranted to evaluate the toxicological effect of ethanolic extract of picralima nitida in normal spague-Dawney rat liver and kidney.
