Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Uvaria chamae (Annonaceae) Plant Extract Neutralizes Some Biological Effects of Naja nigricollis Snake Venom in Rats
Omale James, Ebiloma Unekwojo Godwin and Idoko Grace Otini
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Kogi State University,
P.M.B 1008, Anyigba, Kogi State, Nigeria
British Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology 2013 2:41-50
Received: November 08, 2012 | Accepted: December 22, 2012 | Published: April 25, 2013
Abstract
Uvaria chamae is a well known medicinal plant in Nigerian traditional medicine for the management of many diseases, but investigations concerning its pharmacological characteristics are rare. In this study, we evaluate its venom neutralizing properties against Naja nigricollis venom in rats. Freshly collected Uvaria chamae leaves were air dried, powdered and extracted in methanol. To study the antivenom properties, albino rats were orally administered with a dose of 400 mg/kg body weight and 1 h later, the venom was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 0.08 mg/kg body weight of rats. Albino rats (male) weighing between 180-200 g were randomly divided into five (5) groups of three (3). Groups 1-5 received water, normal saline, venom, Uvaria chamae and venom, Uvaria chamae, respectively. Blood clothing time, bleeding time, antipyretic activity, haemoglobin, RBC, WBC, creatine kinase, AST, ALP and ALT activities total protein antioxidant activity and some blood electrolytes, plasma urea and uric acid were measured. Our results showed that Uvaria chamae methanol extract neutralized some biological effects of Naja nigricollis venom. The venom increased the rectal temperature, enzyme activities, bleeding time and other blood parameters. The plant extract was able to reduce these parameters in the extract treated groups. Details of the results are discussed. From this study, it is clear that U. chamae leaf extract had antivenom activity in animal models. The above results indicate that the plant extract possess potent snake venom neutralizing capacity and could potentially be used for therapeutic purpose in case of snake bite envenomation.
Keywords:
Albino rats, enzyme activities, Naja nigricollis, Uvaria chamae, venom,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
|
|
![](http://www.maxwellsci.com/images/BJPT-maxw.jpg) |
ISSN (Online): 2044-2467
ISSN (Print): 2044-2459 |
![Submit Manuscript](../images/sub.jpg) |
Information |
|
|
|
Sales & Services |
|
|
|