Effects Of <i>Ficus Thonningii</i> Extracts On The Gastrointestinal Tract And Clinical Biochemistry Of Suckling Rats

Abstract

Background: Ficus thonningii is commonly used in traditional medicine across the African continent. We investigated the effects of crude Ficus thonningii extracts on growth, morphology and morphometry of the abdominal viscera and clinical biochemistry of neonatal rats. Materials and Methods: Forty, 6-day old Sprague Dawley rat pups were orally gavaged once daily with either low (50 mg.kg -1 b.w) or high (500 mg.kg -1 b.w) doses of aqueous or methanolic F. thonningii leaf extracts while the control received distilled water. After 7 days of treatment, the pups were euthanased and gross morphometric measurements of the abdominal visceral organs were recorded. Samples of the liver, caecum and proximal small intestine were processed for histology. Plasma biochemical parameters were analysed colorimetrically. Results: High methanolic doses of F. thonningii extracts exhibited trophic effects on the stomach while both aqueous and methanolic extracts had trophic effects on the ceacal mucosa of rats. No significant growth-promoting effects were observed in other visceral organs. Histological analysis revealed no mucosal damage or necrosis. Clinical biochemistry parameters were not abnormally altered. There was a significant decrease (p<0.05, ANOVA) in the plasma concentration of non-fasting glucose in the high methanolic group but triglycerides and cholesterol were unaltered. Conclusion:The findings suggest that at low doses, F. thonningii extracts can be safely used without the risk of any disruption in the structural integrity of the neonatal rat GIT and function of the liver and kidneys.

Medicinal Plants, Phytochemicals, and Their Impacts on the Maturation of the Gastrointestinal Tract

“…Oral administration of an aqueous calyx extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa to suckling rats for 9 days, resulted in early maturation of the small intestine and the cecum, as demonstrated by significantly increased organ weights relative to the control group (Ibrahim et al, 2017). Dangarembizi et al (2014) demonstrated a dose-dependent trophic effect on cecal mucosal layers of Sprague Dawley pups following the oral administration of a methanolic extract of Ficus thonningii for 7 days, starting from postnatal day 6. The findings were attributed to phytochemicals that can stimulate the release of regulatory peptides which then favor the proliferation of parietal cells, thus accelerating the growth of the gut mucosa (Jain and Samuelson, 2006).…”

The response of male and female rats to a high-fructose diet during adolescence following early administration ofHibiscus sabdariffaaqueous calyx extracts

“…The extracted solution was then filtered through Whatman 1 filter paper. The filtrate was concentrated using a rotor evaporator (Labocon (Pty) Ltd, Krugersdorp, South Africa) and dried in an oven (Salvis ® ; Salvis Lab, Schweiz, Switzerland) at 40°C 39 . The dry extracts powder was collected and stored in dark, tightly sealed glass vials at 4°C for future use 34 …”

“…The filtrate was concentrated using a rotor evaporator (Labocon (Pty) Ltd, Krugersdorp, South Africa) and dried in an oven (Salvis ® ; Salvis Lab, Schweiz, Switzerland) at 40°C. 39 The dry extracts powder was collected and stored in dark, tightly sealed glass vials at 4°C for future use. 34,40 Study design A total of 85 4-day-old Sprague Dawley pups from nine dams that were sourced from the Central Animal Services, University of the Witwatersrand, were used in this study which was conducted in three stages.…”

Erythrocyte osmotic fragility and general health status of adolescent Sprague Dawley rats supplemented with Hibiscus sabdariffa aqueous calyx extracts as neonates followed by a high‐fructose diet post‐weaning

“…The filtrate was concentrated using a rotor evaporator (Labocon (Pty), Krugersdorp, South Africa). The extracts were then dried in an oven (Salvis ® , Salvis Lab, Schweiz, Switzerland) at 40 °C (Dangarembizi et al., ) and the residual powder extracts were collected and stored in dark, tightly sealed glass vials at 4 °C for future use (Ali et al., ; Lin et al., ). The yield from the aqueous extraction was 22%.…”