Our Archives
- Accounting 737
- Accounting Education 8
- Actuarial Science 5
- Adult Education 10
- African Languages 3
- Agricultural Business And Financial Management 5
- Agricultural Economics 15
- Agricultural Engineering 3
- Agricultural Extension 3
- Agricultural Marketing And Cooperatives 11
- Agricultural Science 3
- Agronomy 1
- Anatomy 1
- Animal Production 2
- Animal Science 5
- Archaeology And Museum 2
- Architecture 4
- Atmospheric And Environmental Physics 2
- Auditing And Forensic Accounting 9
- Banking And Finance 543
- Biochemistry 3
- Biology 2
- Biology Education 11
- Biomathematics 2
- Botany 3
- Brewing Science 5
- Building Technology 13
- Business Administration 471
- Business Education 16
- Business Management 33
- Chemical Engineering 4
- Chemistry 4
- Chemistry Education 5
- Child & Basic Education 14
- Child Right 2
- Civil Engineering 7
- Clothing And Fashion 1
- Commerce 10
- Communication Arts 7
- Computer Science 230
- Computer Science Education 17
- Cooperative And Rural Development 3
- Cooperative Economics 24
- Criminology And Security Studies 19
- Crop Production 6
- Crop Science And Environmental Protection 3
- Curriculum Studies 5
- Defence Studies 6
- Disaster & Risk Management 6
- Economics 346
- Economics Education 13
- Education 1201
- Education Foundation 18
- Education Management And Policy 4
- Educational Administration And Planning 9
- Educational Measurement And Evaluation 5
- Electrical Electronics Engineering 12
- Electronic Accounting 17
- Elementary Education 2
- English Language Education 14
- English Literary Studies 18
- Environmental Biology 2
- Environmental Geochemistry 1
- Environmental Geology 2
- Environmental Science 8
- Estate Management 39
- Ethics And Civic Education 2
- Fine & Applied Arts 5
- Fisheries And Aquaculture 2
- Food And Nutrition 3
- Food Science & Technology 18
- Forestry And Wildlife 2
- French 22
- French Education 4
- Gender And Women Studies 5
- Genetics And Biotechnology 1
- Geography 2
- Geography Education 3
- Geology 5
- Geophysics 1
- Guidance Counseling 10
- Health & Sex Education 5
- Health Economics 7
- Health Education 26
- Health Environmental Education And Human Kinetics 6
- Health Information Management 7
- History & International Relations 29
- Home And Rural Economics 7
- Home Economics 4
- Hospitality And Catering Management 11
- Human Resource Management 253
- Human Right 1
- Hydrogeology 3
- Industrial Chemistry 8
- Industrial Mathematics 1
- Industrial Physics 1
- Information Technology 17
- Insurance 16
- Integrated Science Education 8
- International Affairs And Strategic Studies 6
- International Law And Diplomacy 23
- Islamic And Arabic Studies 3
- Journalism 8
- Law 12
- Library And Information Science 5
- Linguistics 2
- Marine And Transport 2
- Marine Biology 1
- Marine Engineering 4
- Marketing 150
- Mass Communication 268
- Mathematical Economics 2
- Mathematics 10
- Mathematics Education 9
- Mba Finance 8
- Mechanical Engineering 6
- Medical And Health Science 13
- Medicine And Surgery 2
- Microbiology 17
- Music 4
- Nursing 11
- Office Technology & Management 11
- Petroleum Engineering 4
- Pharmacy 3
- Philosophy 38
- Physics 19
- Physics Education 9
- Political Science 112
- Primary Science Education 2
- Production And Management 1
- Project Management 1
- Psychology 12
- Psychology Education 5
- Public Administration 35
- Public Health 29
- Public Relations 12
- Purchasing And Supply 11
- Pure And Applied Chemistry 1
- Quantity Surveying 12
- Radiography And Radiological Sciences 5
- Religious And Cultural Studies 4
- Science And Computer Education 7
- Science Laboratory And Technology 14
- Secretarial Studies 8
- Smes & Entrepreneurship 137
- Social Science And Humanities 1
- Social Studies Education 7
- Sociology And Anthropology 24
- Soil Science 3
- Sports 1
- Staff Development And Distance Education 4
- Statistics 36
- Surveying And Geo-informatics 3
- Taxation 63
- Teacher Education 8
- Technical Education 1
- Theatre Arts 4
- Theology 13
- Tourism And Hospitality Management 52
- Urban & Regional Planning 12
- Veterinary 1
- Vocational Education 17
- Zoology 4
- MBA-MSC-PGD Thesis research materials
- Click Here For More Departments »
Call 08068929770 or 08122972656 for any enquiries.
Project Topic:
EFFECT OF METHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF ACALYPHA WILKESIANA ON WEIGHT PARAMETERS IN PARACETAMOL INDUCED HEPATOXICITY IN MALE WISTAR RATS RATS
Project Information:
Project Body:
ABSTRACT
The potential effect of methanolic extract of the leaves of Acalypha wilkesiana on the weight of wistar rats was investigated. Calculated amount of methanolic leaf extract of Acalypha Wilkesiana were constituted in distilled water from the stock solution to give doses of 500,500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight of paracetamol, vitamin C and leaf extract respectively and administered to the various groups (A, B, C and D). Prior to the administration of methanolic leaf extract of Acalypha Wilkesiana at every interval of seven days, the body weights of the animals were recorded. The acute administration of the aqueous leaf extract of Acalypha wilkesiana did not result in obvious signs of morphological changes or death of male rats throughout the experimental period. A significant difference (P>0.05) was obtained in the average body weight of animals administered with the extract as compared with the paracetamol treated group. The organ weight also elucidated no significant differences (P<0.05) in the kidney, brain, heart, lung and pancreas except for the liver where there was an increase in the weight of the liver treated with extract as compared to that of the rats treated with paracetamol. From the results obtained it is shown that the extract altered the weight of the liver and is therefore not hepatoprotective, this extract should undergo further investigation before oral administration is recommended.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 MEDICINAL PLANTS
The use of plants for healing purposes has always been part of human culture and it is getting increasingly popular in Nigeria. Acalypha wilkesiana is one of several medicinal plants used in Nigeria and it has various ethno botanical uses. Acalypha wilkesiana belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. It is propagated by stem cuttings at any time of the year. Under ideal conditions, it grows as a spreading evergreen shrub with upright branches that tend to originate near the base and can get up to 3.1 m tall with a similar spread. It has leafs (12.7- 20.3 cm long) that are alternate, elliptic to oval, serrate and multi-coloredans small inconspicuous flowers (10.2-20.3 cm) that hangs in catkin-like racemes beneath the foliage
(Al-attar, 2010).
In some parts of southern Nigeria, the use of diuretics in the treatment of hypertension has been traditionally substituted for aqueous leaf extract of Acalypha wilkesiana. Acute changes in body mass over a short time period can frequently be assumed to be due to body water loss or gain; 1 ml of water has a mass of 1 g and therefore changes in body mass can be used to quantify water gain or loss. Over a short time period, no other body component will be lost at such a rate, making this assumption possible (Shirreffs, 2003), thus weight parameters were evaluated and used as makers of hydration status of the male Wistar rats.
- ACALYPHA SPECIE
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Subfamily: Acalyphoideae
Tribe: Acalypheae
Subtribe: Acalyphinae Genus Acalypha
Acalypha is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. With 450 to 500 species of shrubs, trees and annuals, the genus is only behind Euphorbia, Croton and Phyllanthus in terms of Malpighiales diversity. The common name is copperleaf, three-seeded mercury or cat's tail (Pax et al, 1924). These plants are mostly tropical or subtropical, with a few representatives in temperate zones. The Americas contain two thirds of the known species, distributed from southern United States to Uruguay and northern Argentina. Several species, such as Acalypha ecuadorica, Acalypha eggersii and Acalypha raivavensis are nearly extinct, and the St. Helena Mountain Bush or "stringwood" Acalypha rubrinervis already is hispida (chenille plant, red-hot cat's tail), cultivated as a houseplant because of its colourful and texturally exciting flowers, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. (Grubben et al, 2004), as has Acalypha hispaniolae (Hispaniola cat's tail). Others are grown for their foliage and a number of cultivars have been developed, such as Acalypha wilkesiana 'Obovata Cristata' and Acalypha wilkesiana Acalypha wilkesiana “Hoffmannii'. Acalypha bipartita is eaten as a vegetable in some parts of Africa.
1.1.2 ACALYPHA WILKESIANA
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Acalypha
Species: Acalypha wilkesiana
Binomial name: Acalypha wilkesiana
Acalypha wilkesiana is an evergreen shrub. It grows 3 m high and spreads 2 m across. The stem is erect with many branches. The branches have fine hairs. It has a closely arranged crown. The leaves are coppery green with red splashes of colour. This gives them a mottled appearance. The leaves are large and broad with teeth around the edge. They can be 10–20 cm long and 15 cm wide. The leaves are finely hairy. They can be flat or crinkled. The flowers are reddish in spikes at the end of branches. They have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The male flowers are in long spikes which hang downwards while the female flowers are in short spikes. They do not show up easily as they are often hidden among the leaves. The flower stalks are 10–20 cm long. A tropical and subtropical plant which grows naturally in Vanuatu. It occurs in the Pacific Islands. It prefers light well drained soil. It suits a protected shady position. It is damaged by both drought and frost. It needs a minimum temperature above 10°C. It suits hardiness zones 9-12. Acalypha wilkesiana ointment is used to treat fungal skin diseases (Oyelami et al, 2003) carried out a non-comparative study to evaluate the safety and efficiency of Acalypha wilkesiana ointment using 32 Nigerians with mycological as well as clinical evidence of mycoses. The ointment successfully controlled the mycoses in 73.3% of the affected patients. It was very effective in treating Pityriasis versicolor, Tinea pedia and Candida intetrigo, with 100% cure (Oyelami et al, 2003) concluded that Acalypha wilkesiana ointment can be used to treat superficial mycoses (Akinyemi et al, 2005) evaluated crude extracts from six important medicinal plants, namely: Phylantus discoideus, Ageratum conyzoides, Terminalia avicennioides, Bridella ferruginea, Acalypha wilkesiana and Ocimum gratissimum, to find activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA. Water and ethanolic extracts of these plants were obtained locally. MRSA strains isolated from patients were used. Both ethanolic and water extracts showed effects on MRSA. Minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) of these plants ranged from 30.4-37.0 mcg/ml and 18.2-24.0 mcg/ml respectively. A high MBS value was found in two plants and the other four contained traceable amounts of anthraquinones. This study provided scientific support for the use of Acalypha wilkesiana, T. avicennioides, O. gratissimum and P. discoidens against MRSA based diseases. A. conyzoides and B. ferruginea were unresponsive against the MRSA strains (Oyelami et al, 2003).
- PARACETAMOL