Abstract

Chromolaena odorata is one of the medicinal plants that have served all through the ages as the mainstay in the treatment and preservation of human health. This research was designed to determine the effect of ethanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata on hepatic markers (ALT, ALP, AST, GGT and bilirubin) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic wistar albino rats. All chemicals and reagents used in this study were of analytical grade. Diabetes was induced through intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) single dose of 70mg/kg body weight (b.w). Forty eight (48) rats were randomly distributed into six (6) groups of 8 rats each as follows: Group 1 were diabetic rats that were given 0.5ml normal saline, rats in group 2 were diabetic rats treated with 0.5mg glibenclamide, rats in group 3 were neither induced nor treated while rats in groups 4-6 were diabetic rats treated with graded doses of 250 mg/kg, 350mg/kg and 450mg/kg b.w of ethanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata, respectively. Blood glucose level and hepatic markers were assayed using standard biochemical methods. The study lasted for 21 days. After an overnight fast, blood samples were collected from the animals after anaesthesia via cardiac puncture. STZ injection led to increase in glucose and bilirubin levels as well as the activities of ALT, ALP, AST and GGT. Interestingly, rats in groups 4, 5 and 6 treated with graded doses of 250 mg/kg, 350mg/kg and 450mg/kg b.w of ethanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata recorded significant (p<0.05) decrease in the activities of these enzymes and level of bilirubin when compared with the positive control rats (group 1). Also, there were no significant differences (p>0.05) when group 3 rats (normal rats) and group 2 (treated with glibenclamide) were compared with groups 4-6 rats treated with graded doses of ethanol extract extracts group. In conclusion, the results from this research indicated that ethanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata lowered the activities of liver enzymes and level of bilirubin in STZ-induced diabetic wistar albino rats. The findings in this study suggest that Chromolaena odorata ethanol root extract possess hepatoprotective potentials and hence can be used to ameliorate hepatic dysfunction-associated diseases. Further study is however advocated to unravel the mechanism of action of this plant