Ameliorative potentials of methanol leaf extract of Anthocleista vogelli on mercury chloride induced neurotoxicity

In this work, the effects of A. vogelli leaf extract on a few neurotoxicity indicators in Wistar rats were examined. Group 1 consisted of a normal control group, Group 2 of mercury (II) chloride, Group 3 of mercury (II) chloride + Diazepam 5 mg/kg, and Group 4 of mercury (II) chloride + plant extract 400 mg/kg bw. The sixteen (16) male rats were divided into these four groups at random. Animals were slaughtered and medications and extracts were administered for 21 days. Cerebellum and cerebrum brain samples were obtained and examined. Using accepted procedures, assays for acetylcholinesterase, alpha-tocopherol, and adenine deaminase were conducted. The acetylcholinesterase activity, vitamin E concentration, and adenine deaminase activity in the untreated groups were significantly (p≤0.05) higher than in the control group. Additionally, it was noted that both the plant extract and the usual medication, diazepam, showed significantly higher levels of vitamin E and adenine deaminase activity (p≤0.05) accompanied with lower acetycholinesterase activity. This suggests that the plant extract may have the potential to be a neuroprotective agent and could be used to treat neurotoxicity and