The Effects of Crude Aqueous and Alcohol Extracts of Aloe Vera on the Gastrointestinal Tract and Accessory Organs of Suckling Rats
Year: 2010
Type: dissertation
Abstract: For centuries Aloe vera has been exploited for several verified and unverified medicinal \nuses such as wound healing, treatment of gastrointestinal ulcers and for its many \nbiological effects including anti-microbial, laxative, anti-inflammatory and immunostimulatory \nactivities. Studies have generally focused on its effects in vitro and in adults. \nWhen nursing mothers use Aloe vera extracts, their suckling infants are at risk of indirect \nexposure to Aloe vera via breast feeding or directly as dietary/health supplements. The \ngastrointestinal tract (GIT) of the neonate is sensitive to dietary manipulations during the \nsuckling period with long lasting effects that can be irreversible. Thus babies may be at \nrisk if administered Aloe vera extracts directly as dietary supplements or indirectly via \nbreast milk. \nThe main objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of orally administered \naqueous and alcohol extracts of Aloe vera on growth performance, the morphometry and \nmorphology of the gastrointestinal tract and accessory organs, and liver function of \nsuckling rats. Suckling Sprague-Dawley rats (77), males (n=38) and females (n=39) of 6 \ndays old were randomly assigned to one of five treatment groups and given once daily by \noral gavage a suspension of lyophilized crude alcohol or aqueous extracts of Aloe vera \nsuspended in distilled water. Group I (control) was gavaged with distilled water (vehicle). \nGroup II received a low dose of the aqueous extract (AqL) at 50mg. kg-1; Group III \nreceived a high dose of the aqueous extract (AqH) at 500mg. kg-1; Group IV received a \nlow dose of the alcohol extract (AlcL) at 50mg. kg-1 whilst Group V received a high dose \nof the alcohol extract (AlcH) at 500mg. kg-1. The extracts and distilled water were \n2 \nadministered at a volume of 10ml.kg-1. The pups remained with their dams for the \nduration of the study and after 8 days on the treatments, the pups were humanely killed to \nharvest their tissues for measurements and physiological analysis. All data were \nexpressed as mean ± SD and analyzed by one way ANOVA, the values were considered \nstatistically significant when p < 0.05 and then a Bonferroni Post hoc test was applied. \nThe suckling rats fed respectively with high doses of AlcH and AqH had a significantly \nhigher body mass gain than the other groups (p < 0.05, one way ANOVA). Linear growth \nas measured by tibial length was significantly increased in the AqH group compared to \nthe other groups. There was no significant difference in the mass and relative density of \nthe tibia bones of the rats from the different treatment groups. The differences in growth \ncould not be attributed to circulating concentrations of the somatotrophic hormone, \nInsulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which was not significantly different between the \ngroups. \nThe treatments did not result in any significant differences in lengths, and mass of the \nsmall and large intestine, however the caecum was significantly enlarged (hypertrophy of \nmuscularis, submucosa and mucosa) in the rats that received the Aloe vera extracts. \nAlthough, there was no significant difference in the mass of the rats’ livers, the lipid and \nglycogen content were significantly higher (p < 0.001) for the AqH group compared to \nthe other groups. Histologically, the hepatocytes showed enlarged nuclei, granular \ncytoplasm and dilated sinusoids for AqH and AlcH as compared to the control group. An \nindirect assessment of liver function by measurement of blood concentrations of alkaline \nphosphatase (ALP) and alanine amino transaminase (ALT) did not reveal a significant difference between the groups. The non fasting concentration of metabolic substrates \n(glucose and triglycerides) was also not significantly different between the groups. \nThe pups given high doses of the extracts had a significantly greater (p < 0.05) thymus \nmass (hyperplastic) than the other groups. \nThe short term administration of Aloe vera extracts has shown a growth promoting effect, \nenhanced hepatic storage of metabolic substrates and hypertrophy of the caecum and \nthymus of neonatal rats. These effects need to be explored further to enhance animal \nproduction and health.
Author: Ben Beya wa Beya
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: National Research Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W99907719