In this paper we present the results of the effect of Rauwolfia vomitoria root bark extract and its interaction with vitamin E on the liver function enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), and the histological architectures of the liver tissues of normal animals. | Turk J Biol 33 (2009) 189-194 © TÜBİTAK doi: The effect of interaction of Rauwolfia vomitoria root bark extract with vitamin E on rats’ liver enzymes Monday Isaiah AKPANABIATU1, Friday Effiong UBOH2, Theresa Bassey EKANEM3, Imeh Ben UMOH2, Eyong Ubana EYONG2, Sylvanus O. UKAFIA4 1 Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo, P. M. B. 1017, Uyo, NIGERIA 2Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, P. M. B. 1115, Calabar, NIGERIA 3Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, P. M. B. 1115, Calabar, NIGERIA 4Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo, P. M. B. 1017, Uyo, NIGERIA Received: Abstract: In our previous paper we demonstrated the influence of Rauwolfia vomitoria root bark extract on cardiac enzymes of normal Wistar rats and the effectiveness of this root bark as a source of antihypertensive agent, as determined by the marker enzymes, would be a useful index for the toxicity of this plant in clinical application. In this paper we present the results of the effect of Rauwolfia vomitoria root bark extract and its interaction with vitamin E on the liver function enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), gamma glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), and the histological architectures of the liver tissues of normal animals. The results showed significant (P ≤ ) increase in the activity of AST by the extract. The findings also showed that interaction reduced the activity of enzymes to about normal or less than normal as in the case of γ-GT, ALT, and ALP, indicating the ameliorating effects of vitamin E on the toxicity of Rauwolfia vomitoria root bark extract. Histological results also confirmed .
