Determination of Anemia Control of Moringa Oleifera Leaf Extract and Oral Iron Supplements in Wistar Rats

Anemia remains one of the most difficult public health problems to manage, of which nutritional anaemia is the leading cause of anaemia worldwide. Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA), being the most serious nutritional problem globally. This study aims at evaluating the hematopoietic effect of Moringa oleifera leaf extract (MOLE) in comparison to oral iron supplements in rats. Twenty five adult male rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of (n=5). The control was fed with 10 mls/kg/BW of distilled water and iron free animal feed. Second group received 250 mg/kg/BW of MOLE and normal animal feed third and 4th received 500 mg/kg BW and 1000 mg/kg BW of MOLE plus animal feed respectively. Last group received animal feeds containing 100mg/KG/BW of (FeSo4) iron supplement alone. The result showed a dose dependent increase in the mean cell volume, mean cell hematocrit, mean cell hematocrit concentration, hemoglobin and pack cell volume. When compared to the standard, there was a slight increase in hematologic parameters. There was also slight increase in weight of rats fed with (MOLE), with slightly higher increase in the group that received oral iron supplement. The findings thus indicate that MOLE, are as potent as iron supplements in management of anaemia.