Abstract

The biochemical effects of the histological dye extracted from Sorghum bicolor on Wistar rats were studied. The rats were fed with different doses of the aqueous extracts, 10, 100, 1000, 1600, 2900 and 5000 mg/kg for 24 h and then sacrificed through cervical dislocation. Thereafter, the sera were analyzed for random blood sugar, AST, ALT, sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea and bilirubin, and compared with the control rats. The serum values of random blood sugar, AST, sodium, potassium, bicarbonate and urea increased progressively with increase in concentration of the extract administered to the rats. The value of chloride also increased but it was within the reference range. The bilirubin levels did not change remaining at <17 mmol/l, except in rats that died during the period of administration of the dye where the bilirubin level reached between the range of 17 - 21 mmol/l. However, serum ALT decreased with increase in concentration of the extract administered to the rats.

Key words: Sorghum bicolor, ALT, AST, bilirubin, random blood sugar.