Irvingia Gabonensis Leaves Mitigate Arsenic-Induced Renal Toxicity In Wistar Rats

Arsenic has been reported to contaminate groundwater and agricultural soil in different parts of the World. The effect of ethanol leaf extract of Irvingia gabonensis (ELEIG) against sodium arsenite (SA)- induced renal toxicity was investigated in this study. Wistar albino rats of weights between 100 and 161 g were assigned to eleven (11) groups of five (5) animals each. Group 1 (control) was given feed and water ad libitum. Group 2 was exposed to SA at a dose of 4.1 mg/kg body weight (kgbw) for two weeks. Groups 3-11 were treated with ELEIG with or without SA. Treatment was done orally and lasted for 14 days. Serum concentrations of urea, creatinine, sodium ion (Na+ ), potassium ion (K+ ), bicarbonate (HCO3 -) and chloride ion (Cl-) as well as histological assessment of kidney tissues were used to assess kidney function. Results show that SA caused significant (p?0.05) increases in serum concentrations of all assayed parameters as well as acute tubular necrosis, vascular lesions of ulceration and stenosis. Treatment with ELEIG both simultaneously and 2 weeks after SA exposure reversed the deleterious effects of SA. Administration of the extract alone at various doses also produced similar results with those of the normal control. It may therefore be concluded that ELEIG possesses potent medicinal properties against SA-induced renal toxicity in Wistar rats.