Ameliorating Effect of Aqueous Extract of Cymbopogon citratus on Carbon Tetrachloride– Induced Liver Injury in Wistar Albino Rats

Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the ameliorating effect of aqueous extract of Cymbopogon citratus after carbon tetrachloride–induced liver damage in Wistar albino rats. Methodology: Healthy wistar albino rats weighing 140 – 200 assigned into grouped into six groups of five rats per group. Group one served as the control. Groups two to six were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of 0.3% CCl4 (per body weight) in 1:1 olive oil. Animals in group two were sacrificed 24 hours after CCl4 injection while animals in groups three to six were treated with 240, 480 and 720mg/kg of C. citratus extract daily respectively for 28 days. Biochemical markers such as Aspartate transaminase (AST), Alanine transaminase (ALT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), serum albumin (SA), total protein (TP) and liver malondialdehyde (liver MDA) were measured. Hematological parameters including Packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), white blood cell (WBC) count and Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were evaluated. Results: CCl4-induced liver injury resulted in a significant (p<0.05) increase in serum ALP, ALT, AST and liver MDA with a significant (p<0.05) decrease in SA, TP, PCV, Hb, WBC and MCV. Treatment with 240, 480 and 720mg/kg of C. citratus extract for twenty eight days after CCl4 – induced liver damage resulted in a dose dependent significant (p<0.05) decrease in serum ALP, ALT, AST and liver MDA with a dose dependent significant (p<0.05) increase in SA, TP, PCV, Hb, WBC and MCV. Treatment with 720mg/kg of C. citratus extract for twenty eight days resulted in ALT, ALP, SA, Liver MDA, Hb, WBC, MCV and Liver MDA levels which were not significantly (p<0.05) different from control. The result of this study revealed that C. citratus extract at high dose was able to restore both biochemical and hematological parameters in treated groups. Conclusion: Aqueous extract of C. citratus demonstrated the ability to ameliorate CCl4 – induced liver damage in Wistar rats as evident by its ability to restore hepatocyte membrane integrity, hepatic synthetic function, impede lipid peroxidation, reduce cholestasis and the immunosuppressive effect of CCl4. This is suggestive of the ability of the extract to to restore liver health after hepatocellular and cholestatic injury, making it a potential dietary intervention for liver damage.