title: The effects of orally administered crude alcohol and aqueous extracts of African potato (Hypoxis hemerocallidea) corm on the morphometry of viscera of suckling rats.
abstract: The litter from six Sprague-Dawley rats was used to study the short-term effects of African potato (AP) corm extracts in suckling rats. Ten days after birth, the pups in each litter were assigned to treatment groups and received alcohol (AL) or aqueous (AQ) extracts of AP (50 mg kg(-1) b.w. in 0.9% saline, 10 ml kg(-1) b.w., and a high dose 200 mg kg(-1) b.w. in 0.9% saline, 10 ml kg(-1) b.w.) via a stomach tube, for 5 consecutive days. A fifth group (control) received 0.9% saline (10 ml kg(-1) b.w.). Between gavage, the pups were kept with their dams. The pups were then killed and the viscera removed for gross and microscopic morphometric measurements. The low dose of AQ and AL extracts of AP significantly increased (P<0.01, ANOVA) the mean weight gain. The high dose of AQ significantly increased (P<0.05, ANOVA) the weight of the caeca whilst the low dose of the AL extract reduced pancreas weight compared to the control and low dose AQ groups. All other morphometric parameters of the viscera measured did not differ significantly between the groups. The small intestinal villi and crypts did not reveal any signs of pathology.
authors: School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa. erlwangerk@physiology.wits.ac.za
authors: K H
authors: KH
authors: Erlwanger
authors: R G
authors: RG
authors: Cooper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002432:Cecum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D000431:Ethanol; D027802:Hypoxis / Q000737:chemistry*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water; D000431:Ethanol