Histological Effects of Chronic Administration of Crude Aqueous Extract of Hibiscus Sabdariffa on the Colon of Wistar Rats

Abstract

Hibiscus sabdariffa (Hs) is used in folk medicine for the treatment such as in gastro diseases and infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of chronic administration of crude aqueous extract of Hs calyces on the colon of adult Wistar rats. Rats of both sexes (n = 32), with average weight of 230 g were randomly selected into three treatment (I, II & III) & Control (IV) groups of eight rats each. Groups I, II & III respectively received daily administration of 250, 500 & 1000 mg/kg of body weight of Hs for 31 days through orogastric tube. The control group received tap water through the same route. All rats were feed with growers mash and given water literally. The rats were subjected to light anesthesia (Chloroform) in a urethane saturated chamber and sacrificed at the 32^nd day of the experiment and the stomach and the colon were carefully dissected and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for histological study. The result revealed that the rats in the treated groups showed heavily packed epithelial cells, with significant increase in the level of goblet cells and mucin secretions in the colon mucosa when compared with the control group. This report provides further evidence that the medicinal components of Hs extract has a potential effect as an anti-inflammatory activity on the Colon.