Alcohol (ethanol) is presently reputed to the most cause of disease development in humans. The liver is the human organ that is most frequently challenged in alcohol abuse by oral route in a process that involves generation of reactive oxygen species. In this study we evaluated the liver histology, liver oxidative stress and the activities of liver biomarker enzymes to investigate the capabilities of polyphenolic antioxidant-rich Moringa oleifera Leaf Extract to ameliorate liver derangement caused by alcohol. Three groups of Wistar rats were constructed for the study; A control group that received peanut oil (the vehicle) 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally, for 56 days, after saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight daily, orally for 56 days. The Moringa oleifera--alone group that received physiological saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by Moringa oleifera leaf extract 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, orally for another 56 days. The alcohol-alone group was given alcohol 5 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral for 56 days followed by saline 5 ml kg -1 body weight, daily per oral for another 56 days. Finally, the alcohol plus Moringa oleifera group which were similarly given alcohol, but had Moringa oleifera 300 mg kg -1 body weight, daily, per oral after alcohol for another 56 days.Our results demonstrated that post-treatment with Moringa oleifera leaf extract attenuated the liver morphological, functional and oxidative status changes mediated by alcohol ingestion.

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SUMMARY:Vernonia amygdalina (bitter-leaf) is native to West Africa but occurs mostly in its cultivated form in various parts of central and southern Nigeria. It is a dark-green leafy vegetable commonly used in cooking and as folkloric medicine for the management of several diseases in Nigeria. In the present study, the effects of varying doses of ethanolic leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina on the rat testis histo-morphometry were investigated. Forty male wistar rats were divided into groups of four. Group A, as the control was given 10 ml/kg/day/oral distilled water while Group B, C and D subsequently treated with 100, 300 and 600 mg/kg/day/oral route Vernonia amygdalina leaves extract respectively for 56 days. Results showed that Group B rats had normal testis histology comparable to the control group. However, rats in Group C and D exhibited dose-dependent poor testes histo-morphometric profiles, with the higher dosage-group (D) providing a worse feature. Thus, there was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the tubular diameter, crosssectional area of the tubules, number of tubular profiles per unit area and the mean numerical density of seminiferous tubules of Group C and Group D animals compared to the control group. Our results therefore indicated that, while the lower dose (100 mg/kg) of Vernonia amygdalina leaves extract can be accommodated by rat testis, the higher doses (300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg) demonstrate testicular toxicity in the rat.

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