ABSTRACT

The use of food materials of plant origin in the management of anaemia have become a major focus of research, and studies have shown potential effects of these materials, with little or no side effect. The present study evaluated the effect of methanol extracts of Justicia carnea and almond leaves on the haematological status of anaemic rats. Methanol extracts of J. carnea and almond leaves were prepared using standard method. The various methanol extracts were analysed for proximate, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals using standard methods. Thirty adult rats were randomly assigned to 6 groups of 5 rats each, and were induced with anaemia using 50 mg/mL of phenyl-hydrazine. Blood samples were collected and analysed to establish anaemia before treatment. One group received standard treatment using fesolate at 100 mg/kg body weight (STD100_mg/kg), another group received no treatment, while the remaining 4 groups received J. carnea and almond leaves extracts each at 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg bodyweight (JC300_mg/kg, JC500_mg/kg, AL300_mg/kg and AL500_mg/kg). Data on proximate, minerals, vitamins and phytochemical were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), while the effect of treatment was analysed using paired sample t-test, and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. The study showed protein contents of J. carnea (6.43%) and almond leaf (5.87%), ash contents were 1.67% (J. carnea) and 1.42% (almond leaf), fat contents ranged from 0.24% to 0.29%, and crude fibre presented high value (0.16%) in J. carnea leaf. Iron content in the extracts ranged from 0.80–0.85%, zinc (0.64–0.71%), calcium (72.62–83.75%), potassium (124.77–132.79%), and sodium (32.82–33.71%). Also, vitamin C content ranged from 20.63–25.07 mg/100g, vitamin E (3.51–5.20 mg/100g), and vitamin B12 (3.68–4.47 mg/100g). Alkaloid content of the extracts ranged from 1.11 mg/100 to 2.61 mg/100g, flavonoid (1.53–2.01 mg/100g), phenol (2.26–2.76 mg/100g), saponin (2.45–2.53 mg/100g), and tannins (2.70–4.06 mg/100g). There was significant difference (p < 0.05) between baseline haemoglobin (17.32 g/dL) and end-line haemoglobin (14.84 g/dL) of the anaemic rats after treatting anaemia using J. carnea at 500 mg/kg body weight (BW). Treatment of anaemia using almond leaf extract at 500 mg/kg (BW) showed significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline haemoglobin (17.42 g/dL) and end-line haemoglobin (14.72 g/dL) of the anaemic rats. The packed cell volume (PCV) showed significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline PCV (42.60 g/dL) and end-line PCV (29.60 g/dL) of the anaemic rats, after treating anaemia using J. carnea extract at 300 mg/kg BW. Treatment with methanol extract of almond leaf at 500 mg/kg BW showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between baseline red blood cell (RBC) (7.61 g/dL) and end-line RBC (4.90 g/dL) of the rats. The white blood cell (WBC) showed significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline WBC (10.41 g/dL) and end-line WBC (12.74 g/dL) of the anaemic rats, after treating anaemia using J. carnea extract at 300 mg/kg BW. The Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline MCV (63.82g/dL) and end-line MCV (62.13 g/dL) of the anaemic rats after treating anaemia using J. carnea extract at 300 mg/kgBW. The Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin level showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline MCH(24.70 g/dL) and end-line MCH levels ( 30.30 g/dL) of the anaemic rats after treating anaemia using J. carnea leaves at 300 mg/kgBW.Treatment with methanol  extract of almond leaf  at 300 mg/kg BW showed a significant difference (p < 0.05)  between the baseline (23.66 g/dL) and end-line (29.90 g/dL) MCH levels of the anaemic rats.The mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between  the baseline (38.24 g/dL) and end-line (46.01 g/dL) MCHC of the anaemic rats after treating using J.carnea at 500mg/kgBW.Treatment with methanol extract of almond leaf at 500mg/kg BW showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the baseline (37.46 g/dL) and the end-line (47.13 g/dL) MCHC of the anaemic rats. This study concluded that the use of methanol extracts of Justicia carnea and almond leaves is effective in treating anemia and recommended that methanol extract of the leaves be used for treatments as it is proven to have antioxidant and hepatoprotective property and may be relatively safe following sub-acute consumption of the administered doses.