Abstract

The current dearth of information on the effect of Cnestis ferruginea on haematology necessitated the current study, which is to assess the effects of crude and chromatographic fractions of C. ferruginea on the blood values of male rats. Two experiments were carried out in this study. The first was to determine the effect of acute administration of varying doses (500, 1000 and 2000 mgkg^-1bw) of methanolic extract of C. ferruginea which were given orally to male Wistar rats. In the second experiment, 2000 μgkg^-1bw of each of the six pure fractions of C. ferruginea was given orally to four male Wistar rats in each of the six groups for 60 days, distilled water was given to the control group. The haematological values (The red blood cell (RBC) counts, packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total WBC and lymphocyte were not affected by the methanolic extract of C. ferruginea. However, the neutrophil count was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the rats treated with 2000 mgkg^-1bw of C. ferruginea.  RBC , PCV, MCV, MCH and MCHC values of rats treated with pure fractions 1, 2, 5 and 6 were not significantly different (p > 0.05) from those of the control group. Rats treated with fractions 3 and 4 had significantly reduced (p < 0.05) PCV, Hb and RBC values but the MCV and MCH were significantly increased (p < 0.05). MCHC values were not significantly affected (p > 0.05) by F3 and F4. Apart from F1 that had similar TWBC value with that of the control group, F2, F3, F4, F5 and F6 had significantly reduced TWBC (p < 0.05). All the 6 fractions had significantly reduced neutrophil counts while F2, F5 and F6 had significantly decreased lymphocyte counts. The study revealed that although the methanolic extract did not produce any significant effect on the blood parameters, all the purified fractions caused leucopenia while fractions 3 and 4 caused anaemia. It was therefore concluded that the anaemia observed in rats may be due to the presence of quinolizidine alkaloid in the purified fractions 3 and 4. 

Key words: Haematology, Cnestis ferruginea, fractions, methanolic extract.