This study aimed at evaluating toxicological implications of aqueous P. ostreatus extract (POE) in male Wistar rats. POE was prepared in 1:10 (pulverized P. ostreatus : distilled water). In acute toxicity test, single oral dose of 2 mL/kg of POE was administered and observed for 28 days. The sub-chronic toxicity study was conducted by daily oral administration of graded doses (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 mL/kg b.w) of the extract for 28 days. Clinical signs of toxicity, hematological, serum biochemical parameters and histopathological studies were subsequently evaluated. No treatment-related signs of toxicity or mortality in the animals were recorded in both toxicity tests. Rats administered with lowest dose of POE (25 mL/kg) had highest percentage weight gain. POE had no significant difference (P>0.05) on Red Blood Cell, White Blood Cell (WBC) and differential WBC, and serum biochemistry across all the treated groups when compared to the controls. The result of photomicrographs of stomach, spleen, heart, lung, kidney and liver showed a well outlined arrays of normal tissues in both acute and sub-chronic doses connoting that POE had no toxic effect on them. In view of these, POE may be concluded to be non-toxic within the tested doses and period of investigation.
The African rock python is a cosmopolitan snake in Nigeria widely kept as a zoo animal and also in recreational facilities. There is need for chemical immobilisation of this animal species for managemental, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. A mixture of xylazine and ketamine (XK) was compared with the administration of a mixture of xylazine and normal saline solution (XS) in six captive African rock pythons in 2 trials with reference to onset and duration of anaesthesia. Changes in the heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and rectal temperature (RT) as well as selected biochemical parameters were recorded. Although there were no statistically significant (P>0.05) differences in HR and RR values between XK and XS treatments, significant (P<0.05) differences were recorded for RT. Nonetheless, the significant differences were of no clinical importance. It was therefore recommended to safely immobilise an African rock python using XK for a procedure lasting over 1 hour with minimal cardiopulmonary and plasma enzymatic effect. To the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study assessing the anaesthetic efficacy and safety in African Rock pythons.
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