Aqueous Bridelia ferruginea stem bark transaminase activities in albino rats

The major objective of this study was to evaluate the transaminase activities of albino rats fed with aqueous extract of Bridelia ferruginea stem bark. Sixteen (16) albino rats with weight ranging between 100-190 g were used. The rats were divided into four groups; with group four as the control group. Increasing doses (100, 200 and 400 mg kg-1 body weight) of the extract were administered orally to the other three groups for a period of two weeks. Compared with the control, the aspartate (AST) and alanine (ALT) activities significantly (P< 0.05) increased in the serum and liver tissues whereas no significant consistent difference was observed for the kidney tissues. The results of this study justifies the widespread consumption of B. ferruginea and has shown that daily, oral administration of the aqueous extract of B. ferruginea stem bark for the duration of the experiment, might somewhat confer protection basically to the liver and kidney although higher prolonged doses/usage might be dangerous