Abstract

BEHAVIOURAL AND HISTOLOGICAL STUDY OF CRUDE EXTRACTS OF COSTUS AFER ON TEMPORAL LOBE OF WISTAR RATS

*Okoronkwo, Samuel Okafor, Egwu, Eni Ogbonnia, Uchewa, Obinna Onwe, Amadi Benedict N., Ewunonu E. O., Okoronkwo, Akudo Christiana

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants contain bioactive ingredients that can be used in the treatment of neurobehavioural disorder. In this study the neurobehavioural and histological effect of ethanolic extract of Costus Afer was studied. The study lasted for 14 days involving 29 adult Wistar rats, nine (9) rats were used for oral toxicity test, while 20 rats were divided into four groups of five rats each, A, B, C, D. Group A served as the negative control and received 1m of distilled water, B and C served as experimental group and received 100mg/kg body weight and 150mg/kg body weight respectively, while D served as positive control and received 2.5mg/kg of diazepam. On the fourteenth day neurobehavioural test was carried out using elevated plus maze and the animals sacrificed and the brain harvested. In the elevated plus maze the animals spent more time in the closed arm and closed arm entries increased when compared to the positive control while Head dip, grooming and rearing decreased. The extract showed an anxiogenic effect in this study. The extract distorted the histology of the temporal lobe. The distortion increased with increase in dosage. In conclusion, the result of this study showed that ethanolic extract of Costus Afer lack anxiolytic effect and altered the normal histology of the temporal lobe.

Keywords: Neurobehaviour, Costus Afer, anxiogenic, diazepam, histology.