Haematological and Histopathological Effects of Justicia carnea (Jehovah's Witness Plant)

Justicia carnea is a medicinal plant used widely in Nigeria as a blood-booster. The toxicity of the extracts of J. carnea was carried out to evaluate its haematological and histopathological effects on Wistar albino rats. The aqueous and ethanol extracts used for this study were obtained using the Soxhlet extraction method. A total of fifteen (15) rats in five treatment groups were used for this study. Different concentrations of the leaf extracts were administered to the animals for fourteen (14) days, after which they were observed for mortality and toxicity. There was no mortality recorded for the period. The results of the haematological parameters for the experimental rats showed that there was an increase in the number of red blood cells (RBC), haemoglobin (HGB), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH). There was a decrease in white blood cells (WBC) and lymphocytes (LYM), though not statistically significant (p>0.05) compared to the control. The histopathological examination of the liver and kidneys showed congestion of blood vessels, infiltration of fluids and heamorrhages. Therefore, this study has shown that J. carnea has blood-boosting effects but had adverse pathological effects in the organs studied