Vol. 14 No. 64 - 82 (2023): Effect of Alstonia boonei and Morinda lucida on Some Haematological Parameters of Wistar Rats Infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei

Trypanosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease which affects the well-being of both humans

and animals. The socioeconomic effect of the disease cannot be overemphasized and drugs

used for the treatment of the disease are faced with several challenges ranging from

resistance to the parasite to high level of toxicity. Our study aimed at determining the effect

of Alstonia boonei and Morinda lucida on some haematological parameters of wistar rats

infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei . Phytochemical screening of the methanol extract

indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, phenols

and steroids/terpenes, while glycosides were not detected. Only four of the eight

constituents tested for were detected in the chloroform leaf extract of A. boonei , namely, :

alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, and carbohydrates. Alkaloids, tannins falvonoids, and

carbohydratses were detected in both the chloroform and methanol extract of Morinda

lucida . Acute toxicity studies revealed that the extract is relatively non-toxic from the Packed

cell volume indices and all the wistar rats used for the study survived. In infected rats treated

with 500 and 1000 mg/kg b.wt methanol extract of A. boonei , there was significant decrease

in packed cell volume. For the 500 mg/kg mg/kg b. wt group, the PCV values before infection

with T. brucei were 21.4±0.23 %, and 22.8±1.21 %. However, by the second and third day of

post infection, the respective PCV values were 19.4±0.15% and 17.1±1.26 % respectively. In

wistar rats treated with 1000 mg/kg methanol extract of A. boonei , the PCV prior to infection

was 20.8±1.46 %; on the first day of infection, the PCV was 21.5±0.39 %; while on the

second and third day post infection with T. brucei , the PCV values were 19.6±1.72 and

18.9±0.28 %, respectively. Therefore, the extracts of Astonia boonei should be characterized

and active components responsible for this ameliorative effect be detected and elucidated

structurally.