Therapeutic Effect of Vernonia Amygdalina Aqueous Leaf Extract on Salmonella Typhimurium-Infected Female Wistar Rats

This study investigated the therapeutic effects of Vernonia amygdalina aqueous leaf extract administration on Salmonella typhimurium infected Wistar rats. Rats were infected orally by a single dose administration of Salmonella typhimurium (1.5 x 108 CFU). Negative control groups were infected and treated orally with vehicle (distilled water), neutral control group were not infected, while the four test groups were treated up to 24 days with 50 mg/kg. 100 mg/kg, 150 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg body weight of aqueous leaf extract of V. amygdalina respectively. The effects of leaf extract administration on serum markers (amino transferase activities, total protein, creatinine and bilirubin levels), as well as histopathology of the liver and kidney tissues were also investigated. Following in vivo studies, the 50 mg/kg dose of aqueous leaf extract of V. amygdalina was effective in alleviating liver damage as seen in the amino transferase activity. Infection resulted in a significant increase of amino transferase activity. The drug and plant extract helped to alleviate liver and kidney damage from infection as observed in the organ weights and their protein content. Findings from this study showed that the administration of this aqueous leaf extract at higher doses resulted in the ameriolation of the tissue damage caused by the S. Typhi bacteria (from histological studies). These results support the ethnomedicinal use of V. amygdalina, and posits that its leaves can be used in antibacterial phytomedicine.