KIDNEY

Aim Of this study is to investigate the effects Of aqueous extract Of Cinnamon bark on the kidney Of Wistar rat. Twenty (20) Adult Wistar rats Of weighing between I SO g•180g were used for this The rats were prvw•ured from the animal holdings Of Department Of Anatomy. School Of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Benin. Benin City. The animals were housed in the Department of Anatomy. University of Benin. Care and management Of animals was carried out in accordance with the guidelines for the care and use Of laboratory animals. The animals were allowed to acclimatize for a vxriOd Of two weeks before commencement Of experiment. The bark Of Cinnamon was purchased from the vegetable market Of "Stop to Shopv located opposite the University Of Benin. The bark was chopped into little bits and allowed to dry at room temperature. dried bark was pounded using wooden mortar and pestle and milled into fine in an electric blender. Five hundred grammes Ofthe powder were soaked in 2 liters of distilled water for 24 hours. The mixture was filtered with white filter and the residue would be separated from the filtrate. The filtrate was concentrated using Free7ß dried technique in the National Centre for Energy and Environment at the University of Bcnin. Benin City. •Ihc rats were randomly assigned into a Control group (A) and five treatment groups (B, C, and D) containing five (S) animals Rats in Group B administered With 100 mg/kg aqueous extract of Cinnamon bark; group C was administered with 200 mg/kg aqueous extract of Cinnamon bark; Group D 500 mg/kg aqueous of Cinnamon bark. Group E 1000 mg/kg aqueous extract of Cinnamon bark At the end of the exi*rimental period, the animals were sacrificed using Chloroform anesthesia and the kidney tissues were harvested and fixed in 10% buffer saline for routine histological procedure for hematoxylin and Eosin staining technique. Blood samples were collected from the descending abdominal aorta and preserved, in heparin coated tubes, for biochemical determination of Liver function tests. The data carried out using Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 16) rnanufactured by international Business Machine Corporation (IBM) in Armonk, New York. nie significance of the difference in the means of all parameters would determined using one-way analysis of variance (95% confidence interval). Result obtained showed that the Cinnamon extract showed that lower doses Of the extract had no deleterious effects on kidrry but however the highest dose Of 1000 mg/kg t»dy weight showed significant vascular.

This study evaluated the chemistry and biological consequences of heavy metal contamination of water from River Nun at Onuebum town, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The pH of the water, acidity, alkalinity, turbidity, sulphides, total nitrogen and total hydrocarbon content in the river water were identified. The toxicity of the water itself and that of the heavy metals in the river water were investigated using rats. Sixty rats divided into twelve groups of five rats each were used. Group A, the control rats, received distilled water only (42.86 ml/rat/day by gavage). Group B received the boiled river water. Group C received the unboiled river water. Group D received a solution of the salts of all the metal ions identified in the river water (1.24 mg Fe, 0.018 mg Cu, 0.001 mg Hg, 0.001 mg Cd, 0.001 mg Pb, 0.001mg Mn, 0.001 mg Cr/L of distilled water). Group E received a solution containing 1.24 mg Fe/L. Group F received a solution containing 0.018 mg Cu/L. Group G received a solution containing 1.24 mg Fe/L and 0.001 mg Hg/L in distilled water. Group H received a solution containing 0.001 mg Hg/L. Group I received a solution containing 0.001 mg Cr/L. Group J received a solution containing 0.001 mg Cd/L. Group K received a solution containing 0.001 mg Mn/L. Group L received a solution containing 0.001 mg Pb/L. Each rat received 42.86 ml/kg bd wt. of the appropriate solution by gavage daily, 7 days a week for 3 months. After an exposure duration of three months, there were significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in serum urea, creatinine, chloride, LDH, total and direct bilirubin levels of the groups H (mercury only), J (cadmium only) and L (lead only) rats compared to the rats in the control and the other eight groups. There were significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in liver GGT, LDH, total bilirubin, ALT, AST, and total protein levels of groups H (mercury only), J (cadmium only) and L (lead only) rats as compared to the control and other eight groups. There were significant increases (p ≤ 0.05) in kidney sodium, chloride, urea and creatinine levels of groups H (mercury only), J (cadmium only) and L(lead only) rats as compared to the rats in the control and other eight groups. There was also significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in the group G when compared to control in terms of serum AST, ALT, Na+ and cholesterol levels. However, these increases were not as profound as those observed for mercury when administered singly. The adverse effects, evidenced by changes in these parameters in the test rats relative to the control group, was not observed in the groups (B and C) that consumed the river water directly. The results obtained here show that heavy metals antagonize the effects of each other when administered concurrently, a pattern of behavior which would not be evident when each is examined inisolation. The findings also show that the River Nun water, although containing several toxic
elements, may be fairly safe for human consumption.

This field experiment was conducted in the Experimental Field of Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, to ascertain the physical and chemical properties of soil and agronomic performance of Kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Maize (Zea Mays) in monoculture and intercrop. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three levels of treatment and three replicates. Soil samples were
collected before and after experiment for determination of parameters: pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, hydrogen, aluminium, sand, silt and clay. Also plant parameters like, stem girth, number of leaves, vine length, weight of 100 grains and yield were also determined. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and Duncan Multiple Range Test was used
to separate means at 5% level of significance. Results show that the total nitrogen content of the soil in the sole maize plot reduced to 0.54 g/kg from the 0.63 g/kg recorded in the soil before sowing while the kidney bean + maize intercrop plot increased to 0.73 g/kg and the
sole kidney bean pot was 0.80 g/kg. Furthermore, the soils in the area were generally acidic in nature and belong to the loamy sand textural class. The effect of intercropping on yield varied between kidney bean and maize. For kidney bean and intercropping, there was a
slight increase in grain weight (32.8 g under intercropping compared to 31.9g in monoculture) and a minor improvement in total yield (0.72 t/ha in intercropping relative to 0.70 t/ha in monocropping). This suggests that intercropping had positive effect on yield of
kidney bean. The nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium) content of the grains of maize and kidney bean were not affected by intercropping. However, intercropping resulted in a decrease in yield components (stem girth, number of leaves, plant
height, weight of 100 grains average weight of cob and grain yield) of maize while kidney bean recorded increment in growth and yield parameters.