Effect of aqueous leaves extract of Costus afer Ker Gawl (Zingiberaceae) on the liver and kidney of male albino Wistar rat

Nephroprotective Effect of Costus (Saussurea costus) Ethanolic Extract on Oxaliplatin®-induced Nephrotoxicity in Adult Male Wistar Rats

<b>Background and Objective:</b> Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup> is an antineoplastic platinum-based compound; nephrotoxicity is one of its most serious side effects. This study aimed to explore the nephroprotective potential of Costus Ethanolic Extract (CEE) against Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup>-induced nephrotoxicity. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> Adult male Wistar rats, weighting 140-160 g, were randomly divided into four groups: (1) Normal rats, (2) Rats ingested with CEE (67.08 mg kg<sup>1</sup> day<sup>1</sup>), (3) Rats injected (ip) with Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup> (10 mg kg<sup>1</sup> week<sup>1</sup>) and (4) rats treated with CEE in combination Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup> injection. <b>Results:</b> After six weeks of treatments, the results revealed that CEE ingestion along with Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup> injection markedly minimized the Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup>-induced renal deterioration; this was evidenced by the significant reduction in serum urea, creatinine, uric acid, Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin 1Beta (IL<sup>1</sup>β) and Sodium ion (Na<sup>+</sup>) levels as well as kidney Malondialdehyde (MDA), Nitric Oxide (NO) and DNA fragmentation values. Controversially, a marked rise in serum Calcium, Potassium Ion (K<sup>+</sup>) and Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) levels besides renal Glutathione (GSH), Catalase (CAT) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) values. Similarly, the histopathological findings confirmed the biochemical ones as the CEE restored the Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup>-induced histological degenerations. <b>Conclusion:</b> In conclusion, CEE exhibited nephron-protection efficiency against Oxaliplatin<sup>®</sup>-induced nephrotoxicity; this promising effect may be achieved through the antioxidant and radical scavenging activities of its constituents.

Toxicity study and anti-trypanosomal activities of aqueous and methanol whole plant extracts of Brillantaisia owariensis on Trypanosoma brucei-induced infection in BALB/c mice

Background

The problem of drug resistance and toxicity in trypanosomiasis is ever-increasing, thereby creating a need to search for efficacious and safer alternatives that are of plant origin. We designed the present study to assess the oral acute toxicity, and anti-trypanosomal activity of Brillantaisia owariensis in mice.

Methods

Fifty-eight BALB/c mice were used for this study. For toxicity assessment, eighteen mice were divided into two groups of nine mice each, and acute single oral administration of the aqueous and methanol whole plant extracts of B. owariensis was assessed for each group as per Lorke’s method. Mice were observed for signs of toxicity of liver and kidney organs after two weeks of oral administration. For the anti-trypanosomal activity, forty mice were divided into eight groups of five mice. Mouse in each group was inoculated with 0.1 mL containing106T. brucei /mL. Following patency of 3 days, mice were treated at different dosages of methanol and aqueous extracts. Pre-infection, post-infection, and post-treatment data for rectal temperature, body weight, parasiteamia level, packed cell volume, and daily survival were monitored.

Results

The acute oral toxicity studies (LD50) for methanol and aqueous plant extracts in this study were calculated as 3535 mg/kg/body weight, and are non-toxic. No obvious histopathologic observation in the liver and kidney tissues. The mean daily rectal temperature and mean weights of all the treated mice were restored to normal values and significant (P, 0.05) in comparison to the positive control.

Parasitaemia clearance by both extracts was suppressive. The mean PCV values were significantly increased following treatment, and there was prolonged survival especially in mice treated with methanol extracts.

Conclusion

The study concludes that the extracts of B. owariensis are relatively non-toxic with a good safety margin when administered to mice orally. Crude methanol extract exhibited better suppressive and haematinic antitrypanosomal activities than the aqueous extract, and it has a promising effect by its ability to reduce anaemia in mice challenged with T. brucei brucei, and prolonged survival.

Low-dose heavy metal mixture (lead, cadmium and mercury)-induced testicular injury and protective effect of zinc and Costus afer in wistar albino rats

The study evaluated the protective effect of Costus afer on low-dose heavy metal mixture (LDHMM)-mediated effects in the testis of albino rats. The weight-matched animals were divided into six groups: normal control, metal mixture of (PbCl₂  + CdCl₂ + HgCl₂ ), combination of metal mixture + Costus afer at 750 mg/kg, combination of metal mixture + Costus afer at 1,500 mg/kg, combination of metal mixture + Costus afer at 2,250 mg/kg and combination of metal mixture + (ZnCl₂ ). LDHMM reduced (p < .05) the antioxidant biomarkers (superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; and glutathione, GSH) and increased (p < .05) the lipid peroxidation marker (malondialdehyde, MDA) and lead, cadmium and mercury concentrations in the testis. Treatment with LDHMM increased (p < .05) abnormal sperm morphology and plasma prolactin (PRL) level and decreased epididymal sperm count, viability, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinising hormone (LH) and testosterone. LDHMM exposure caused deleterious changes in the testis. Treatment of rats with Costus afer (750, 1,500 and 2,250 mg/kg) dose-dependently reduced (p < .05) the LDHMM-mediated toxicity. Treatment with Costus afer also reversed the testicular weight and LDHMM decrease in antioxidant biomarkers. Costus afer may be a defensive modulator of LDHMM-mediated testicular lesions.

Costus afer: A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Data in support of Its Medicinal Relevance

Costus afer (C. afer) is a plant commonly known as ginger lily, spiral ginger, or bush cane. It is reportedly used in traditional medicine practice (TMP) to treat and manage many ailments including diabetes mellitus, stomach ache, arthritis, inflammation, and gout. These purported ethnomedicinal uses have triggered many research studies on the plant to amass scientific evidence. However, these research reports are scattered, and thus, this systematic review seeks to provide a comprehensive update on it covering its traditional uses, phytochemical and nutritional constituents, pharmacological activities, and toxicological effects. An online search was done using search engines such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect from the period 1970 to 2019. The online search included the use of keywords, "Costus afer Ker-Gawl" or "Costus afer." The search revealed that the stem and leaves of the plant contain substantial amounts of micronutrients and macronutrients. The leaves, stem, rhizomes, and roots of C. afer contain several steroidal sapogenins, aferosides, dioscin, and paryphyllin C and flavonoid glycoside kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside. Experimental studies on various parts of the plant showed bioactivities such as antihyperglycemic, hepatocellular protection, cardioprotection, nephroprotection, testicular protection, CNS depressant, analgesic, antiarthritis, antibacterial, and antioxidant. Based on these evident data, it is concluded that the plant could be used as an alternative and complementary therapy for many oxidative stress-related diseases, provided further scientific studies on the toxicological and pharmacological aspects are carried out.

Phytomedicines Used for Diabetes Mellitus in Ghana: A Systematic Search and Review of Preclinical and Clinical Evidence

Background

Available data indicate that diabetes mellitus leads to elevated cost of healthcare. This imposes a huge economic burden on households, societies, and nations. As a result many Ghanaians, especially rural folks, resort to the use of phytomedicine, which is relatively less expensive. This paper aims at obtaining information on plants used in Ghana to treat diabetes mellitus, gather and present evidence-based data available to support their uses and their mechanisms of action, and identify areas for future research.

Method

A catalogue of published textbooks, monographs, theses, and peer-reviewed articles of plants used in Ghanaian traditional medicine between 1987 and July 2018 for managing diabetes mellitus was obtained and used.

Results

The review identified 76 plant species belonging to 45 families that are used to manage diabetes mellitus. Leaves were the part of the plants frequently used for most preparation (63.8%) and were mostly used as decoctions. Majority of the plants belonged to the Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, and Apocynaceae families. Pharmacological data were available on 23 species that have undergone in vitro studies. Forty species have been studied using in vivo animal models. Only twelve plants and their bioactive compounds were found with data on both preclinical and clinical studies. The records further indicate that medicinal plants showing antidiabetic effects did so via biochemical mechanisms such as restitution of pancreatic β-cell function, improvement in insulin sensitivity by receptors, stimulating rate of insulin secretion, inhibition of liver gluconeogenesis, enhanced glucose absorption, and inhibition of G-6-Pase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase activities.

Conclusion

This review contains information on medicinal plants used to manage diabetes mellitus, including their pharmacological properties and mechanisms of action as well as models used to investigate them. It also provides gaps that can form the basis for further investigations and development into useful medications for effective treatment of diabetes mellitus.

Nephroprotective effect of Costus afer on lead induced kidney damage in albino rats

BACKGROUND

Lead is a nephrotoxicant probably implicated in the rising incidence of chronic kidney injury in sub-Sahara Africa. With the prohibitive cost and unavailability of metal chelators, chronic kidney disease CKD prevention is very difficult hence the search for affordable alternative. Costus afer have been shown to be organo-protective. The present research investigated the nephroprotective effect of aqueous leaf extract of Costus afer on lead induced nephrotoxicity in male rats.

METHODS

Adult male rats were weight matched into five groups of five rats each. Groups 1 & 2 serve as normal and toxic control receiving deionized and leaded (CH₃COO)₂Pb. 3H₂O water respectively. Groups 3, 4 and 5 were administered peroral 750, 1500 and 2250 mg/kg of aqueous leaf extract of Costus afer respectively while receiving Pb²⁺ water ad libitum. Hematological, antioxidant and histological parameters obtained from the result serve as scientific evidence in the study.

RESULTS

Costus afer treatment significantly reversed (P < 0.05) the decrease in the levels of gluthatione peroxidase (GSH-PX), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), Glutathione-S-trasferase activity (GST) seen in the lead acetate only treated group. Similarly, the increased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the lead acetate only treated group was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in the Costus afer treated groups. There were significant (P < 0.05) decreases in serum serum level of sodium (146 ± 2.1 to 133 ± 6.0) and potassium (5.1 ± 0.4 to 4.4 ± 0.3) in lead acetate alone and treated group respectively. Also recorded was a significant (P < 0.05) decrease in serum levels of total protein and albumin (67 ± 7.9 to 47 ± 5.0 g/dl) and (45 ± 4.4 to 33 ± 5.5 g/dl) in lead acetate alone and Costus afer treated groups respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Aqueous leaf extract of Costus afer may be nephroprotective in albino rats.

Adsorption of Methylene Blue Dye onto Bush Cane Bark Powder

The adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye on bush cane bark powder has been studied by analyzing the effect of contact time, initial dye concentration, adsorbent dose, pH, and temperature on the amount of the MB dye adsorbed per unit mass of the bush cane bark powder adsorbent. An optimum adsorption could be achieved during 80 min contact time but, thereafter, decreased with contact time beyond 80 min. The adsorption of the methylene blue dye increased with increasing the initial dye concentration, temperature and pH. However, the amount of methylene blue adsorbed decreased with increasing the dosage of the adsorbent; a phenomenon attributed to a plausible agglomeration of the adsorbent and blocking of the preferred adsorption sites with increasing adsorbent dosage. The adsorption mechanism of the dye obeyed the Freundlich isotherm. Kinetic studies showed that the methylene blue adsorption onto bush cane bark powder adsorbent followed a second order reaction kinetics. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infra-red spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscope analysis.

Histopathological and biochemical assessments of Costus afer stem on alloxan-induced diabetic rats

BACKGROUND

In continuation of our study of the biological activity of the aqueous extract of Costus afer stem used in tradomedicare in Nigeria, this work has investigated the biochemical, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective and protective effects of aqueous extract of C. afer stem on alloxan-induced hyperglycaemic albino Wistar rats.

METHODS

Thirty male albino Wistar rats (150-200 g) were weight-matched into six groups of five rats each. Groups 1 and 2 were the normal (non-induced) and toxic (alloxan-induced) controls, respectively. Groups 3-6 were induced and treated with 1, 2 and 3 g/kg of the aqueous extract of C. afer stem and glibenclamide (5 mg/kg), respectively. Food and fluid intake, body weight, absolute and relative weight of organs (liver, pancreas, and kidneys) and biochemical parameters were measured.

RESULTS

There was a significant reduction in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total bilirubin triglyceride, creatinine, urea and electrolyte when compared with toxic control group. The liver marker enzymes were restored in all the treated groups. The aqueous stem extract possessed hypoglycaemic effect and reversed the histopathological damage in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that aqueous stem extract of C. afer possesses both hypoglycaemic and organ protective properties.

Hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of saponin-enriched extract of Asparagus cochinchinensis in ICR mice

The inhibitory effects of Asparagus cochinchinensis against inflammatory response induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), substance P and phthalic anhydride (PA) treatment were recently reported for some cell lines and animal models. To evaluate the hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity of A. cochinchinensis toward the livers and kidneys of ICR mice, alterations in related markers including body weight, organ weight, urine composition, liver pathology and kidney pathology were analyzed in male and female ICR mice after oral administration of 150, 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight/day saponin-enriched extract of A. cochinchinensis (SEAC) for 14 days. The saponin, total flavonoid and total phenol levels were found to be 57.2, 88.5 and 102.1 mg/g in SEAC, respectively, and the scavenging activity of SEAC gradually increased in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, body and organ weight, clinical phenotypes, urine parameters and mice mortality did not differ between the vehicle and SEAC treated group. Furthermore, no significant alterations were measured in alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and the serum creatinine (Cr) in the SEAC treated group relative to the vehicle treated group. Moreover, the specific pathological features induced by most toxic compounds were not observed upon liver and kidney histological analysis. Overall, the results of the present study suggest that SEAC does not induce any specific toxicity in the livers and kidneys of male and female ICR mice at doses of 600 mg/kg body weight/day.

Toxicological study of the butanol fractionated root extract of Asparagus africanus Lam., on some blood parameter and histopathology of liver and kidney in mice

BACKGROUND

The butanol fractionated root extract of Asparagus africanus Lam., a traditional herb widely used to treat various ailments were analyzed for the presence of potential toxicity after single (acute) and repeated (subchronic) dose oral administration in adult swiss albino mice using gavages.

METHODS

For the acute study, butanol fractionated extract of the plant was administered in single doses of 1000, 3000 and 5000 mg/kg body weight. In the sub-chronic dose study, the extract was administered at doses of 300 and 600 mg/kg body weight/day for 42 days. Selected hematological and biochemical parameters of the blood followed by histopathological analysis were investigated after 42 days of daily administrations. The results were expressed as M ± SE, and differences at P < 0.05 was considered significant. One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference tests were employed to check the significant differences between the various parameters of the experimental groups.

RESULTS

In the acute study, the extract did not caused dose-dependent general behavioral adverse effects, body weight change and mortality. The single dose toxicity studies therefore showed that the butanol fraction of the extract has high safety profile when given orally. After 42 days of daily dosing, in the sub-chronic study, no clinically significant changes were observed for hematological and biochemical parameters. Except an occasional small number of focal mononuclear lymphocytic cells infiltrations around the central and portal triad of the liver of a few mice, the histopathological parameters do not show significant change.

CONCLUSION

It is concluded that, the butanol fractionated extract from A. africanus at the given dose does not show significant toxicity. The presence of focal inflammation on the liver of a few mice may be associated to the presence of flavonoid glycoside in the butanol fractionated extract.

Evaluating the therapeutic efficacy, tolerability, and safety of an aqueous extract of Costus speciosus rhizome in acute pharyngitis and acute tonsillitis. A pilot study

OBJECTIVES

To determine the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of an aqueous extract of Costus speciosus (C. speciosus) rhizome in pediatric and adult patients suffering from acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis as an alternative to antibiotics use.

METHODS

This pilot cohort trial was conducted at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia between May and December 2014, among 15 patients with acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis who were administered nasal drops of aqueous extract of C. speciosus rhizome at a dose of 15-30 drops every 8 hours for 3 days. The primary outcome measure was the clinical improvement and remission rate within the first 5 days.

RESULTS

The administration of C. speciosus resulted in an improvement in acute symptoms in 60% of the patients treated within the first 24 hours, and remission rate of 93% by day 5, without any recorded adverse effects.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed a significant efficacy of the aqueous extract of C. speciosus rhizome in acute pharyngitis and tonsillitis.

Pharmacological and safety evaluation of fibrous root of Rhizoma Coptidis

The aim of this study was to investigated the pharmacological activities and safety of fibrous root of Rhizoma Coptidis (FRC). FRC not only protected Kunming mice from the minimal lethal dose of Escherichia coli, but also protected rabbits from hyperpyrexia induced by lipopolysaccharid (LPS). The acute toxicity study showed that oral medial lethal dose (LD50) of FRC was greater than 7000mg/kg body weight in Kunming mice. The sub-chronic toxicity study showed that the no-observed-adverse effect level (NOAEL) of FRC was 1.88g/kg body weight in Sprague-Dawley rats, whereas FRC at higher dose (3.76g/kg body weight) resulted in damage to liver and lung. Negative results were present in Ames test, mouse micronucleus test and mouse sperm abnormality test. These finding support the use of FRC in veterinary medicine.