TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ALOE BARBADENSIS ROOT EXTRACTS IN WISTAR RATS USING HAEMATOLOGY AND LIPID PROFILE.

A. barbadensis is a folkloric medicinal plant used for decades to treat several ailments such as
intestinal ulcers, gynaecological problems, wound healing, ringworm and eczema. Other uses of A. barbadensisinclude impotence, low libido, appetite disorder, emmenagogue, pile, asthma, cough and jaundice. This study was aimed at determining the safety of the ethanol extract of Aloe barbadensis root using haematological, and lipid parameters. A. barbadensisroot extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) and control (distilled water, 0.2mL/kg) were administered to sixty male Wistar rats (150-270 g body weights) for 14 days. The haematological parameters were determined using the collected whole blood and lipid profile assessed using the serum. The oral administration of the extract on red blood cells and white blood cells, as well as other haematological indices (haemoglobin, Platelets crit (PCT), mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, granulocytes, lymphocytes, Platelets crit and monocytes), were significantly(p<0.05) not altered. A non-significant (p>0.05) effect of the extract on high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) was observed in the serum of the male rats. The results indicate that within the doses used in the study, the ethanol extract of A. barbadensis root is relatively non-toxic with no significant localized toxicity. However, the root of A. barbadensis should be cautiously used because of its selective effect on some lipid parameters in the male rats