Teratogenic Effects of Crude Ethanolic Root Bark and Leaf Extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria (Apocynaceae) on the Femur of Albino Wistar Rat Fetuses

Abstract

Introduction. Rauwolfia vomitoria is a plant used as a sedative and in the treatment of psychotic tendency. This study was on the teratogenic effects of its root bark and leaf extracts on Wistar rat's fetal femurs. Materials and Methods. Twenty-five female rats weighing between 180 and 200 g were divided into 5 groups, of 5 rats each. Group A was the control, while Groups B, C, D, and E were the experimental. The female rats were mated with mature male rats to allow for pregnancy. Groups B and C animals received orally 150 mg/kg each of the root bark and leaf extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria, respectively, while Groups D and E animals received 250 mg/kg bodyweight each of the root bark and leaf extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria, respectively, from day 7 to day 11 of gestation. On day 20 of gestation, the rats were sacrificed, the fetuses were examined, and their femurs were dissected out and preserved, decalcified, and routinely processed using the Haematoxylin and Eosin staining method. Results. Histological observations of the fetal femur bones showed numerous osteoblast and osteoclast, hypertrophy, and hyperplasia of bone cells compared with the control. Conclusion. Ethanolic root bark and leaf extracts of Rauwolfia vomitoria may lead to advanced skeletal development.

Rauwolfiavomitoria Root Bark Extract Affects the Cervical Ventral Horn Cells of the Spinal Cord

“…[30] R. vomitoria has been reported to cause loss of cellular integrity of the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and olfactory bulb in animal models and, hypertrophy and hyperplasia of osteoblasts, which supports the present results. [3,10,[17][18][19][20][21][22]31] Conclusion R. vomitoria alter behavioural and cellular architecture of the spinal ventral horn C3-C5 segments and these changes were dose dependent.…”

Toxicological Study of the Aqueous Extract of the Stem Bark of Rauvolfia vomitoria (Apocynaceae)

“…Asoro et al 26 and Eluwa et al 28 , who used ethanolic extracts of root bark of R. vomitoria over 7 and 14 days, respectively revealed a significant decrease in body weight in the treated groups compared to the control group in respective doses of 150-200 and 200-300 mg/kg. The evaluation of animal organ weights is very important in toxicological studies.…”

Characterization of Hippocampal Histomorphology Following R. vomitoria Root Extract Treatment

“…Previous studies have also showed that RV ameliorated neurotoxicity caused by chlorpromazine and Sida acuta leaf extract (Ajao et al, 2015;Okon et al, 2020). However, adverse reports such as; hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity have also been reported (Eluwa et al, 2013a;2013b).…”