Egwurugwu J. Nnabufe

To study the effects of ethanolic extracts of Vernonia amygdalina(VA) and Ocimum gratissimum (OG)on the testes of diabetic rats, thirty-two male rats were used. Control consisted of eight (8) rats which served as non- diabetic control, receiving sodium citrate daily. The remaining rats were injected intraperitoneally with streptozotocin(65mg/kg) to induce diabetes. The rats confirmed diabetic were randomly divided into three experimental groups (1, 2 and 3) made up of eight rats each. Group 1 received 6IU/kg of insulin. Group 2 was given 100mg/kg body weight of Vernonia amygdalina and 200mg/kg body weight of Ocimum gratissimum combined daily. Group 3 served as the diabetic control and was given distilled water. The entire investigation lasted for 6 weeks. Results revealed typical testicular architecture in the normal control. Diabetic control exhibited alteration of germinal epithelium, distortion of seminiferous tubules as well as vacuolation of seminiferous tubules. The effects of the extracts on diabetic rats’ testes showed improvements compared to the diabetic control group. It is therefore safe to speculate that the extracts of these plants used especially when combined exert some significant improvement in combating the adverse effects of diabetes on the testes of male rats.

In the present study, the effects of pre-treatment with catecholamine on indomethacin-induced ulcer were studied. Rats were exposed to various treatments with epinephrine and dopamine 30 minutes before ulcer was induced using NSAID (indomethacin). Experimental ulceration was induced in fasted rats using Indomethacin (40mg/kg.p.o). Four hours later after indomethacin administration, the stomachs were opened under thiopentane anesthesia and the ulcer area scored by planimetry. Sections of the stomachs were prepared for histology and stained for apoptotic cell count. Acid secretion was also studied in the control and treated animals by pylorus ligation technique. Indomethacin treatment resulted in the formation of ulcer with ulcer index of 5.0±0.5 while the pre-treatment with catecholamine significantly reduced ulceration episodes (epinephrine: ulcer index=3.0±0.7, dopamine: ulcer index=2.0±0.7, p