Therapeutic effect of ethanol leaf extract of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) on salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in Wistar rats

Abstract

This study investigated the therapeutic effect of ethanol leaf-extract of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) on salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in adult Wistar rats. Thirty male rats (110g-130g) were distributed into 6 groups. Control groups (1-3) received 10ml/kg b.wt water orally, 80mg/kg b.wt salbutamol for 2 days, and salbutamol plus 10mg/kg b.wt propranolol for 10 days respectively. Groups (4-6) received salbutamol before the extract (200, 400 and 800mg/kg b.wt respectively) for 28 days. The animals were sacrificed, blood collected and hearts harvested for analysis. The results showed that Troponin I and Creatinine Kinase-MB (CK-MB) were significantly elevated (p≤0.05) in group 2 but reduced significantly (p≤0.05) in group 5. Reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) significantly reduced (p≤0.05) while malondialdehyde (MDA) significantly increased (p≤0.05) in group 2 but CAT and SOD increased significantly (p≤0.05) while MDA decreased significantly (p≤0.05) in groups 4 and 6. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) increased significantly (p≤0.05), while high-density lipoprotein (HDL) reduced significantly (p≤0.05) in group 2. The packed cell value (PCV), red blood cell (RBC) and platelets depleted significantly (p≤0.05) while white blood cell (WBC) increased significantly (p≤0.05) in group 2. However, the PCV, haemoglobin (HB), RBC and platelet increased significantly (p≤0.05) while WBC decreased significantly (p≤0.05) in group 5. Heart photomicrograph revealed histologically distorted heart tissue in group 2 but histologically regenerated heart tissue in groups 4-6. This study suggests that the extract could ameliorate salbutamol-induced myocardial injury in adult Wistar rats.