Liver serves as an important organ in the detoxification of various drugs and xenobiotics in the body and drug-induced liver diseases is said to accounts for about 50% of all hospital admissions and 50% of all acute liver failure resulting in the withdrawal of some approved drugs from the market. 1,2 The withdrawal of these drugs appears to be as a result of enormous toxicities arising from the liver such as unique vascular, secretory, synthetic and metabolic effects. 3 Excessive production of pro-oxidants and ROS in the liver can result in the damage of both structural and functional integrity of the liver cells amounting to widespread liver toxicities. 4 Antioxidants protect the human body against the damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). 5 These ROS are produced in vivo through various biochemical reactions and respiratory chain coming from occasional leakage. 6 The leakages are the main agents in lipid peroxidation and several anti-inflammatory, digestive, anti-neurotic, neuroprotective, and hepatoprotective drugs have recently been shown to have antioxidant and/or radical scavenging activities. 7

Olax subscorpioidea (Oliv.) leaf is widely used as a traditional remedy for pain, reduction of small tumors, edema, painful swellings, and other inflammatory conditions. Its anti-inflammatory potential in experimental animals has been documented. Furthermore, an anti-inflammatory assay guided fractionation showed that the aqueous and butanol leaf fractions were the most active. This study is aimed at investigating further, the acute and sub-acute anti-inflammatory potentials of the aqueous and butanol leaf fractions in mice and rats.Carrageenan induced paw edema in rats, xylene induced ear edema in mice, and cotton pellet induced granuloma in rats were the models employed for the studies. For each of the methods, four randomly-selected groups of animals (n=5/6) were orally administered with distilled water (1 ml/kg), aqueous or butanol fraction (1,000 mg/kg) and standard drugs (acetylsalicylic acid [ASA] 300 mg/kg or dexamethasone, 1 mg/kg).The aqueous and butanol fractions each showed significant (p < 0.01) inhibition of ear swelling, the fractions also significantly (p < 0.05, p < 0.01) decreased the paw edema, and significantly (p < 0.01) inhibited the granuloma formation.The result of the study suggests that aqueous and butanol leaf fractions of Olax subscorpioidea are effective against acute and sub-acute inflammation.

The study investigated the hypoglycaemic effect of methanol extract of Solanum anomalum fruit. Extraction of the powdered fruit was done with 90% methanol. Rats were divided into five groups of five rats per group. Hyperglycaemia was induced using alloxan at a dose of 150 mg/kg in groups two to five. Groups one to five received distilled water 2 ml/kg (normal control), distilled water 2 ml/kg (diabetic control), S. anomalum extract 500 mg/kg, S. anomalum extract 1,000 mg/kg and glibenclamide 10 mg/kg respectively. The treatment was continued for 14 days during which blood glucose levels were monitored. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence carbohydrate, cardiac glycosides, saponins, tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids. The oral LD 50 was found to be above 5,000 mg/kg. The methanol extract of S. anomalum fruit at 1,000 mg/kg showed a statistically significant blood glucose lowering effect (p<0.05) between the blood glucose level at zero hour (337.8 ± 29.4 mg/dL) and blood glucose level after 24 h (317.4 ± 21.5 mg/dL) for the groups being administered with the extract. The groups receiving 500 mg/kg and 1,000 mg/kg of the extract showed a statistical significant blood glucose lowering (p<0.05) between the blood glucose level at day zero (329 ± 34 and 337 ± 29 mg/dL) was compared to the blood glucose at day 15 (237 ± 32 and 143 ± 15 mg/dL). In conclusion, methanol extract of S. anomalum fruit contains one or more active agents that has anti-hyperglycaemic and hypoglcaemic activity in alloxan induced hyperglcaemic and normoglycaemic rats.