Hemostatic potential of total aqueous extract of Sacoglottis gabonensis (Baille) Urban (Humiriaceae) stem bark in Wistar rats pretreated with warfarin

Background: Sacoglottis gabonensis is a medicinal plant used in traditional treatment of Buruli ulcer and leprosy in Côte d'Ivoire. A study conducted on the healing potential of this herb on induced wounds showed good results. The objective of this study is to evaluate the hemostatic potential of the total aqueous extract of Sacoglottis gabonensis (TAESg) in rats after a pretreatment with warfarin. Methods: Thus, 42 rats were evenly distributed into seven groups of six rats each. The rats in group 1 did not receive treatment whereas those in groups 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 pretreated with warfarin received by oral route, distilled water, 100 mg/kg body weight (bw) of Vitamin K1 and doses of 3.5; 17.5; 35 and 350 mg/kg bw of TAESg, respectively. Blood samples were collected from the rats’ retro-orbital sinus before the experiment, after induction the blood hypocoagulation with warfarin and after the treatments with vitamin K or the extract in orderto determine hemostatic parameters such as the prothrombin time, the activated partial thromboplastin time and the International Normalized Ratio, the fibrinogen level, the calcium level and the thrombocyte level. Results: The results showed disturbances in the hemostatic parameters of warfarin-induced hypocoagulability rats. The treatments with TAESg significantly normalized these parameters by reducing the prothrombin time, the activated partial thromboplastin time and the INR and by increasing fibrinogen levels. However, the levels of calcium and thrombocytes which were increased after the administration of warfarin did not experience any significant change after the treatments with TAESg or Vitamin K, depending on the group. Conclusion: TAESg has some hemostatic properties similar to those of vitamin K. Key words: hypocoagulation, hemostatic parameters, rats, Sacoglottis gabonensis.