Hematological and lipid profile evaluation of a hexane fraction of Costus afer leaves in arthritic rats

• Published in: Pharmaceutical biology Vol. 53; no. 11; pp. 1671 - 1676
• Main Authors: Anyasor, Godswill Nduka, Onajobi, Funmilayo D., Osilesi, Odutola, Adebawo, Olugbenga
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa Healthcare 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Arthritis, Experimental - blood; Arthritis, Experimental - drug therapy; Bioactive compounds; Blood Cells - drug effects; Blood Cells - metabolism; Costus; ethno-medicine; Hexanes - isolation & purification; Hexanes - pharmacology; Hexanes - therapeutic use; immunomodulation; Lipids - blood; Male; Plant Extracts - isolation & purification; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Plant Leaves; Rats; Rats, Wistar; immunomodulation; Bioactive compounds; ethno-medicine
• ISSN: 1388-0209; 1744-5116
• DOI: 10.3109/13880209.2014.1001404

Context: Costus afer Ker Gawl. (Costaceae) is an ethnomedical plant used as therapy against inflammatory disorders. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the hematological and lipid profile analysis of hexane fraction of C. afer leaves (CAHLF) in arthritic rats. Materials and methods: Male albino rats were randomly distributed into seven groups of six rats each. Rats were induced with arthritis using formaldehyde and Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) for 7 and 21 d, respectively. The animals were administered orally with 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg CAHLF, 10 mg/kg diclofenac and prednisolone, 0.9% NaCl (control), and 0.9% NaCl (normal). At the end of treatment periods, blood samples were withdrawn and subjected to hematological and biochemical analysis using auto-analyzer and spectrophotometric methods. Results: Hematological analysis revealed that in formaldehyde- and CFA-induced arthritic rat models, 250 mg/kg CAHLF-treated groups had significantly reduced (p < 0.05) hematocrit counts (HC) (30.98 ± 1.59% and 33.55 ± 1.10%), white blood cell counts (WBC) (5.50 ± 0.35 and 4.15 ± 0.82 × 10 9 /L), and platelet counts (PC) (401.50 ± 48.94 and 246.33 ± 5.54 × 10 9 /L) compared with control HC (46.90 ± 1.92 and 41.88 ± 2.19%), WBC (11.09 ± 0.26 and 7.37 ± 0.34 × 10 9 /L), and PC (783.67 ± 59.51 and 593.83 ± 36.3 × 10 9 /L). Furthermore, blood analysis showed that CAHLF-treated groups had reduced total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides while they had an elevated high-density lipoprotein compared with the control group. Discussion and conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that CAHLF could possess immunomodulatory and hypolipidemic properties in arthritic rats. CAHLF could be considered as a source of biopharmaceutical agents in anti-arthritis drug discovery process.