INVESTIGATION OF THE ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL AND TOXICITY OF THE WHOLE LEAF OF SOLANUM NIGRUM IN ALBINO RATS

Introduction: Solanum nigrum is a common herb that grows wild and abundantly in open fields. Solanum nigrum has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties. Most animal studies have been on the aqueous and alcoholic extracts of Solanum nigrum leaf, this study focuses on the whole leaf. Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the antioxidant potential and effect of the whole leaf of S. nigrum on liver function parameters in rats. Materials and Methods: Fifteen male Wistar rats were divided into three groups of 5 rats each. Solanum nigrum leaves rinsed,air-dried, milled and administered orally to the rats at two doses (100mg/kg and 200mg/kg body weight in 1% CMC) for seven days. The control group received 1ml of 1% CMC orally for seven days. On the eight day, animals were sacrificed and cardiac blood collected into plain bottles. Standard methods were used to determine serum nitric oxide, lipid peroxidation, gluthathione peroxidase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin. One gram portion of the organs (heart, kidney, liver and spleen) were fixed in formal saline for histopathological examination of 2 animals per group. Results: Solanum nigrum had an LD50 greater than 1000mg/kg body weight without symptoms associated with toxicity. Nitric oxide concentration was significantly lower (p<0.05) in the S. nigrum groups (92.0-118.33mM) compared to the control (238.00mM) whereas gluthathione peroxidase was significantly increased (p<0.05) compared to the control group. The effects on these parameters were not dose dependent. There was no significant change in liver function parameters in all the groups. The histopathological screening of the control and test groups showed normal profile indicating no morphological alterations in the heart, liver, kidney and spleen of the rats. Conclusion: This results indicates the antioxidant effect of Solanum nigrum leaf. It also showed that the consumption of S. nigrum leaves at the chosen doses had no adverse effect on the organs of the rats. Further work will need to be done at higher doses, for longer duration and on both sexes of animals.