title: A comparative study of the effect of some nutritional medicinal plants effect on lead accumulation in the liver following different modes of administration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Lead (Pb) toxicity leads to cell damage in many organs of the body. Using different treatment interventions and modes of administration we comparatively examined the protective ability of some medicinal plants on liver Pb accumulation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rats were fed on either 7% w/w Zingiber officinale, 7% w/w Allium sativum, 10% w/w Lycopersicon esculentum, 5%, w/w Garcinia kola (all in rat chow), while Pb (100 ppm) was given in drinking water. The additives were administered together with (mode 1), a week after exposure to (mode 2) or a week before metal exposure to (mode 3) the metal for a period of 6 weeks. The metal accumulations in the liver were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry and compared using analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Some additives significantly (P < 0.05) reduced, while others enhanced Pb accumulation. Mode 2 yielded the highest mean % protection and mode 3 the lowest, no significant interaction between modes of administration and time of measurement in their relationships to percentage protection, but there was statistically significant (P < 0.05) interaction between modes of administration and additive used in their relationships to percentage protection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Protective effects of medicinal plants are varied and depend on the nature of lead exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The University of The West Indies Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: Chukwuemeka
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nwokocha
authors.affiliation: Tropical Medicine Research Institute, The University of The West Indies Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: Novie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Younger-Coleman
authors.affiliation: Department of Haematology, The University of The West Indies Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: Magdalene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nwokocha
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Owu
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwuala
keywords: Accumulation pattern; Allium sativum; Garcinia kola; Lycopersicon esculentum; Zingiber officinale; lead; liver; mode of administration