Abstract

Smoking has been recognized as a significant contributor to mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate some of the toxic effects of smoke extract of Datura stramonium leaf on the heart, liver, kidneys and testes of male Sprague Dawley rats. A total of ten male Sprague Dawley rats weighing between 100 and 120 g were used for this study. The animals were randomly assigned into two (2) groups; A and B. Animals in group B (treatment group) were exposed to smoke from a completely burnt 0.74 g leaf extract of D. stramonium, wrapped in 0.5 g of sterilized cotton wool for 5 min, three times daily. The animals in group A (control group) were exposed to smoke from completely burnt 1.24 g of sterilized cotton wool with the same parameters as observed with the treatment groups. The duration of exposure was for five days. 3 h after the last exposure, all the animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and testes were carefully excised, blotted dry, and fixed in formol saline for histological analysis using Hematoxylin and Eosin (H and E) stain. Using the light microscope, it was observed that, the cytoarchitectural profiles of the studied organs were well preserved in the animals in the control group. However, several histological deviations were seen in the sections of the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and testes of the animals in the treatment group. These deviations range from distortion and degeneration of the hepatocytes, reduction in the population of the germ cells and enlargement of the alveoli. These histological deviations indicated that the smoke extract of D. stramonium leaf has deleterious effects on the heart, liver, lungs, kidneys and testes of male Sprague Dawley rats and may be associated with structural damage to these vital organs.

Key words: Cotton wool, Datura stramonium, histological deviations, kidneys, liver, testes.