International Blood Research & Reviews

Medicinal plants continue to play an important role in traditional and modern medicine. Some of these plants and plant products are often adopted as means of treatment, especially in rural parts of Nigeria, without any prior research study conducted to ascertain if the plants actually possess the health benefit claimed, or if it’s even safe to use or consume. In this research, the effect of the aqueous extract of Cassia occidentalis, an annual Ayurdevic plant, on hematological parameters of experimental Wistar rats under oxidative stress was studied. Sixteen (16) rats were randomly grouped into 4 groups following acclimatization. The rats in group 1, 2, and 3 were treated with 10% acetone for a period of 6 days to induce in them oxidative stress, with group 4 serving as control group. Animals in group 1 and 2 were administered with 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of the aqueous extract respectively, for a period of 7 days. Blood samples were then collected from each of the animals under chloroform anaesthesia through cardiac puncture into EDTA containers for full blood count analysis. The results showed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) increase in mean cell hemoglobin (MCH) between group 2 (500 mg/kg) and group 4 (control) in a dose-dependent manner. This study concludes that the aqueous extract of C. occidentalis may help improve oxygen-carrying capacities of red blood cells, which is often impaired in oxidative stress, by increasing MCH.