1.0 Introduction
Natural plant products and their derivatives represent more than 50% of all the drugs in clinical use in the world (Ben-Eric, 2002). Dennettiatripetalaalso known as pepper fruit tree is a well-known Nigerian spicy medicinal plant. It is found in the tropical rainforest region of Nigeria and sometimes in Savanna areas (Okwu et al., 2005). It is locally called “Nkarika” by the Efiks of Calabar. The young leaves and fruits have distinctive spicy taste. The mature fruits constitute the main edible portions. Some communities in parts of Southern Nigeria also utilize the leaves and roots, in addition to the fruits for medicinal purpose.
Dennettiatripetalahas been found tocontain lots of minerals, vitamins, alkaloids and trace elements which are of medicinal importance. It was also indicated that the rich presence of essential oil (oleoresins) determines the aromatic flavoring, coloring and pungent properties of pepper fruits. (Nwaoguet al., 2007) investigated phytochemical content of Dennettiatripetala and detected the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins and cyanogenic glycosides. The intake of flavonoids in any fruit and vegetable tends to decrease cancer risk (Neuhouser, 2004; Grafet al., 2005). Flavonoid contributes to the color of plants, their fruits and flowers. The use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is not intended in any way to replace modern medical science but rather an aid in conventional therapy (Ben-Eric, 2002).
Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is an industrial chemical that does not occur naturally. Most of the carbon tetrachloride produced is used in the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chlorinated hydrocarbons. It was once used widely as a solvent, cleaner and degreaser, both for industrial and home use. Today, the scientific database on the effects of haloalkanes is so vast that it is no longer employed for such purposes although it is used as a model of experimental liver injury (Weber et al., 2003).
CCl4 is a well-known hepato- and nephrotoxicant (Thrall et al., 2000; Ogeturket al., 2005), and proves highly useful as an experimental model for the study of certain hepatotoxic effects (Muriel et al., 2003; Moreno and Muriel, 2006). CCl4-induced toxicity, depending on dose and duration of exposure, covers a variety of effects. At low doses, transient effects prevail, such as loss of Ca2+ homeostasis, lipid peroxidation, release of noxious or beneficial cytokines (Kyung-Hyun et al., 2006; Muriel, 2007) and apoptotic events followed by regeneration. Other effects, with higher doses or longer exposure, are more serious and develop over a long period of time, such as fatty degeneration, fibrosis, cirrhosis and even cancer (Weber et al., 2003). In addition, acute intoxication with CCl4 at high doses, when the hepatocellular necrosis exceeds the regenerative capacity of the liver, fatal liver failure will ensue. Extreme doses of CCl4 result in nonspecific solvent toxicity, including central nervous system depression and respiratory failure and death.
This study aims at investigating the effect of ethanol extract of Dennettiatripetalaon liver and kidney antioxidant enzyme activity and malondialdehyde concentration of rats exposed to CCl4.
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