ABSTRACT

Jatropha tanjorensis has been consumed as a leafy vegetable and as a medicinal plant in Nigeria has shown hematological, antimalarial, antimicrobial, hypoglyceamic, hypolipidemic and antihypertensive   activities.  This study was designed to investigate the effect of ethanol root extract of jatropha tanjorensis on the kidney function of albino Wistar rat. Twenty rats (20) adult female adults, the animals were divided into five groups. Group I served as control and was administered water and normal rat feed, group 2 was administered 100mg/kgbwt of extract, group 3 was administered 250mg/kgbwt of extract and finally group 4 was administered 500mg/kgbwt of extract. The administration lasted for 14 days and the experimental animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected. The urea, creatinine, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin level were assayed for and it was observed that the group   II,III and IV  showed significant decrease in urea, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin  concentrations  group II,III and IV also showed siginificant increase in creatinine level. From the results, it has been established that jatropha tanjorensis possess kidney protective properties.

Keywords: Creatinine, Direct bilirubin, Jatropha Tanjorensis, Total bilirubin and Urea 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0        Background of the Study    

   An increasing reliance on the use of medicinal plants in the industrialized societies has been traced to the extraction and development of many drugs and chemotherapeutics from these plants as well as from traditionally used herbal remedies (Tapsell et al., 2006). A large and increasing number of patients use medicinal herbs or seek the advice of their physician regarding their use. Without doubts, the benefits derived from using medicine obtained from plants are that they are relatively safer than synthetic alternative by offering profound therapeutic benefits and more affordable treatment (Stepp, 2004).

  Jatropha tanjorensis belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae and it shows intermediacy in phenotypic characters between J. gossypifolia and J. curcas (Prabakaran and Sujatha, 1999). It is commonly called hospital too far, Catholic vegetable, Iyana-ipaja, lapalapa (Iwalewa et al., 2005).

  In Nigeria, the leaf of J. tanjorensis has been used locally, consumed as a vegetable and it is popular as a natural remedy against diabetes in this region (Olayiwola et al., 2004). Recent claims have it that the plant is no longer safe for use and that it could be tox