Effects of Sub-chronic Administration of Crude Ethanol Extract of Cola nitida on Stomach Mucosa Epithelial Lining and Liver Function Enzymes in Albino Rats

Aim: This study investigated the effects of sub-chronic administration of crude ethanol extract of Cola nitida mucosa epithelial lining and liver function enzymes in albino rats.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Chemical Pathology Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, between March 2017 and January 2018.

Methodology: Twenty (20) albino rats have randomly divided into five (5) groups of A, B, C, D, and E of four rats each and were fed with an equal volume of ethanol extract of Cola nitida of 600, 1200, 1800 and 2400 mg/kg body weight of the rats by oral administration for 28 days, while group A serves as a control, respectively.

Results: Result indicates the LD50 was above 5000 mg/kg B.W., serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activity revealed a significant increase (P = .05) for AST (31.23 ± 9.39), (40.44 ± 12.24), (44.59 ± 8.69), and (36.30 ± 13.18) in rats fed with 600, 1200, 1800 and 2400 mg/kg, and ALT (33.66 ± 7.94) for group fed with 2400 mg/kg B.W as compared against the control group (16.97 ± 6.58) and (20.11 ± 4.39). The serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) also showed a significant increase (P = .05) (7.99 ± 2.89), (7.07 ± 2.21), and (5.49 ± 1.28) in the group fed with 1200, 1800, and 2400 mg/kg as compared to the control (2.34 ±0.84). Histological studies on the mucosa epithelial lining showed an eroded epithelium and vacuolations at a dose above 1200 mg/kg as compared to the control group.

Conclusion: This study was able to establish that crude ethanol extract of Cola nitida have some deleterious effects on mucosa epithelial lining, and liver function enzymes.