MULTIPLE ORGAN TOXICITY OF A NIGERIAN HERBAL SUPPLEMENT (U & D SWEET BITTER) IN MALE ALBINO RATS

In a three month study, 3 groups of albino rats (150-200g), 539, 1077, and 1616mg/kg aqueous extract of u & dee sweet bitter, were administered orally while deionized water was given to the control group. animals had access to deionized water and were fed ad libitum with rat chow for 90 days. the feed and fluid consumption of the animals were measured on daily basis while the body weight was measured weekly. animals were anaesthetized with ether after 90 days, bled sacrificed, heart, spleen and pancreas were excised and weighed. the following parameters were measured namely food and fluid intake, body weight, absolute and relative weights of the, spleen, pancreas, heart. serum glucose, low density lipoprotein ldl, high density lipoprotein hdl and cholesterol were also determined. food and fluid consumption were not significantly (p > 0.05) affected. a significant (p < 0.05) increase in absolute and relative weights was observed while the weekly body weight did not show any significant difference between the control and u & dee sweet bitter treated groups. a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in total serum cholesterol, low -density lipoprotein (ldl), and high-density lipoprotein (hdl) were seen in u & dee sweet bitter treated groups. this study suggests that u & dee sweet bitter may have toxic effect on the spleen, pancreas, and heart of male albino rat.