Assessment of Parkia biglobosa on Hepatic and Renal Biomarkers of Dexamethasone-Exposed Pregnant Rats

Aim: This study sought to investigate its effect on hepatic and renal biomarkers of female pregnant rats.

Place and Duration: This work was carried out in the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti between January and June 2021.

Methodology: Locust bean seeds were purchased from an open market in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria and were processed using standard method. Fifteen female pregnant rats were divided into three groups of five each. Animals in group A were exposed to standard animal feed only. This served as the control group. Those in group B were exposed to animal feed mixed with locust beans + 0.3 mg/kg body weight of dexamethasone, while those in group C were exposed to animal feed mixed with locust beans only. At the end of the eight days treatment, animals were sacrificed and blood sample, liver and kidney were collected.

Results: Exposure of pregnant rats to dexamethasone was observed to significantly (p<0.05) increased the activities of plasma aspartate amino transaminase (AST) and alanine amino transferase (ALT) as well as the concentrations of plasma total protein, bilirubin, creatinine and urea when compared with those in animals in the control as well as those treated with P. biglobosa only. The results further showed that administration of P. biglobosa only had no significant effect on plasma hepatic and renal biomarkers except urea which was significantly lower than those in the control group as well as those treated with dexamethasone. The results obtained from liver and kidney homogenate respectively are similar to those observed in the plasma.

Conclusion: Exposure of animals to dexamethasone adversely unhinged hepatic and renal biomarkers investigated in the study. The study also revealed that P. biglobosa seed is beneficial to the health of the liver and kidney of pregnant female rats.