CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Senna occidental is is a non-nitrogen fixing leguminous tree in the family Leguminosae and sub-family Caedalpinoidea. There are over 400 known species of Cassia. Senna occidentalis is native to south and south-east Asia from Thailand and Myanmar (Brandis 1906, Gamble 1922) to Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (Khan and Alan, 1996). It has been cultivated world-wide and is naturalized in many locations (Gutteridge, 1997). It is commonly called Bombay blackwood, cassod tree, kassod tree, pheasant wood, pheasant-wood, Siamese cassia, Siamese senna, Thai cassia, Thai copper pod, Thailand shower. In Nigeria, Senna occidentalis is widely distributed in the southwest and some areas in the North. It is commonly referred to as
‗ewe cassia‘ in the southwest where it is believed to cure fever and has also serve some other medicinal purposes (especially the leaves) (Ogunkunle 2006). In the North, it is known as
―Labadiya‖ and commonly planted as shelter belts. The chemical composition of Sennaoccidentalis (cassia leaves) has been determined from recent studies and contains saponins, anthraquinones, phytobatannins, alkaloids and crude proteins (Smith, 2009).
Senna occidentalis is one of the most widely used herbal plants among people of tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world (Veronique and Gabriel, 2013). It is used for various therapeutic purposes in traditional medicine (Yadav et al., 2010, Silva et al., 2011). In Nigeria, this plant is locally called Sanga-sanga or Rai dore in Hausa language (Nuhu and Aliyu, 2008; Sadiq et al., 2012); Akidi agbara in Igbo language and Abo rere in Yoruba language (Egharevba et al., 2010). Roots, leaves, flowers and seeds of Senna occidentalis are the different parts of the plant used in medication (Veronique and Gabriel, 2013). The lethal dose (LD50) of aqueous leaf extract of Senna occidentalis was found to be safe up to 5000 mg/kg body weight (Silva et al., 2011; Shafeen et al., 2012; Tanimu and Wudil, 2012).
The plant has been used in different parts of the world by the traditional healers in treating different forms of diseases. It has been documented in literatures that extract of Senna occidentalis has antimicrobial activity (Mariano-Souza et al., 2010; Mohammed et al.,2012), larvicidal and pupicidal activity (Ibrahim et al., 2010), antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity (Gowrisri et al., 2012), antiinflammatory actions (Yadav, 2010), antimalarial activity (Gwarzo et al., 2014), antianxiety and antidepressant activity (Shafeen et al., 2012), analgesic activity (Silva et al., 2011) and antidiabetic activity (Emmanuel et al., 2010; Laxmi et al., 2010; Onakpa and Ajagbonna, 2012).
According to World Health Organization (WHO), due to poverty and lack of access to modern medicines; about 6580% of the world’s populations living in developing countries depend essentially on plants for primary health care (Calixto, 2000). Traditional healers dispense herbal preparations without much consideration to the quantity of the extract ingested by their clients.
1.1 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Despite the growing demand for herbal medicines, there are still concerns associated with not only their use, but also their safety (Winston and Maimes, 2007). Thousands of decades ago, people most especially rural dwellers relied heavily on traditional medicine using herbs for treatment of illnesses; this has been the practice in Northern Nigeria in particular Sokoto State and all over the world (Nuhu and Aliyu, 2008). The kidneys serve essential regulatory roles in animals by removing excess organic molecules from the blood as waste products of metabolism (Arthur and John, 2006; Inderbir, 2007). Kidneys are one of the vital organs affected by accumulation of toxic substances in the body; exposure to toxic substances can cause injury or death of tissues in the kidney resulting in leakage of essential biomolecules into the blood stream alongside with histomorphological changes (Vashishtha et al., 2009; Nwaehujor et al., 2011).
People consume Senna occidentalis extract either alone or mixed up with other mineral and organic matter as therapy (Garba et al., 2021). The leaves of this plant are widely used in our community without enough knowledge of its possible side effects on vital organsS enna occidentalis has been widely used as a laxative but its effect on the colon in treating opiateinduced constipation has not been fully established.Constipation occurs as an adverse drug reaction to opioid treatment for pain relief, especially among opioid-addicts and regular users. The prevalence of constipation is 2-fold higher among Africans of lower socio-economic status and in nursing home residents (Higgins et al., 2004).
1.2 JUSTIFICATION
Senna leave consumption reduces the risk of chronic constipation from unhealthy lifestyle, dieting and even in cases of abuse of certain drugs that indirectly induce constipation. Knowledge gained from this study could stimulate the minds of indigenous researchers into the field of medicinal plants and herbal remedies. Getting a natural laxative like S. occidentalis (without drug interaction) will be helpful in ameliorating side-effects of opioid-induced constipation among addicts and regular users.
1.3 AIM
The study was aimed at evaluating the toxic effect of S. occidentalis leaves on White Albino rats.
1.4 OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this present study were to:
i.evaluate the Physical properties of Senna occidentalis leaf extract
ii.determine the phytochemical analysis of Senna occidentalis leaf extract iii.Effect of oral administration of aqueous leaf extract of Senna occidentalis on white Albino rats
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