OLUSEGUN TOVIA OFUJE

Since prehistoric times, medicinal herbs have been used due to their therapeutic and pharmaceutical value due to the presence of some bioactive compounds which have been written and proven to show effectiveness against ailments such as jaundice, genital infections, fever, wounds amongst others. Phyllanthus Amarus is traditionally used for various infections, inflammation and cancer. 1,2 Dimethylhydrazine is a potent colon cancer inducer in animals. The present study investigated the effects of ethanolic extract of n-hexane fraction of Phyllanthus Amarus on 1, 2 Dimethylhydrazine induced colon cancer in swiss albino mice. 15 male swiss albino mice of weight 14g-26g were acclimatized for a week and randomized into 3 groups (5 per group). Group A (-DMH), Group B (DMH+ 450mg/kg body weight of ethanolic extract of n-hexane fraction of P. amarus) Group C (DMH+). 20 mg/kg body weight of DMH was administered orally for 24doses (3 times a week for 2 months). The plant extracts were administered daily for 2 weeks (14days) with the aid of a dolphin gauge immediately after colon cancer induction. In the present study, the antioxidant parameters e,g, SOD(×103 )(u/mg wet tissue) and CAT(×102 )(u/mg wet tussue) of control were significantly different from the treated group as seen in the result (2.156±0.64 and 0.42± 0.28 )for SOD,(11.66 ± 0.78 and 2.93± 0.75) for CAT. For MDA(×10-4 )(m/mg wet tissue) GPX(u/mg wet tissue) and GSH(g/wet tissue )there was no significant difference when the control group (0.209±0.015) for MDA, (0.037±0.014 )for GPX and (1.23±0.087) for GSH was compared to treated group (0.17±0.02) for MDA, (0.08± 0.015) for GPX and (1.93± 0.19 )for GSH. For liver function test, there was significant difference between the control (168.9 ±24.57), treated (219.42±54.8) and untreated group (156.56±11.68) for ALT activity(u/L) in the liver homogenate, but there was no significant difference at p<0.05 for AST(u/L) across all groups Control(25.6± 0.58), treated (26.77±1.16) and untreated(29.1±0.579 ).