Hepato-protective Efficiency of Ethanol Leaf Extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. against Hydrocarbon Exposure

Augustine I. Airaodion^1*, Uloaku Ogbuagu¹, John A. Ekenjoku², Emmanuel O. Ogbuagu², Edith O. Airaodion³, and Victor N. Okoroukwu⁴

¹Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.

²Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Abia State University, Uturu, Nigeria.

³Department of Biochemistry, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.

⁴Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Gregory University Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author’s: E-mail Address ✉: augustineairaodion@yahoo.com; Phone no ☎: +234, 07030204212

Accepted October 10, 2019

Hydrocarbon exposure has been reported to have deleterious effect on human health including damaging the organs. This study sought to investigate the hepatoprotective efficiency of ethanol leaf extract of Moringa oleifera against hydrocarbon exposure. Twenty adult Wistar rats were used for this study. They were divided into four groups and treated accordingly: animals in group A were fed with 100 g of standard feed only (Control group), Group B with 100 g of standard feed + 4 mL of crude oil, group C with 100 g of standard feed +10 g of extract of M. oleifera and group D with 100 g of standard feed + 4 mL of crude oil + 10 g of extract of M. oleifera leaves. At the end of thirty days treatment, animals were fasted overnight and anaesthetized using diethyl ether. Blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture. Biochemical parameters were determined using standard methods. Crude oil significantly increased hepatic biomarkers as well as oxidative stress biomarker of animals used in this study when compared with the control group at p<0.05 but this effect was neutralized by M. oleifera leaf extract. This indicates that crude oil damaged the liver and increased the generation of free radicals. This might be what happens in humans and animals living in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria who are continuously exposed to crude oil following exploration. M. oleifera was able to alleviate this effect, thus making it a potent hepatoprotective agent against hydrocarbon exposure.

Key words: Moringa oleifera Lam., hydrocarbon exposure, Liver Damage, Hepatoprotective Agent.

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