The Cushioning Effect of Extracts of Amaranthus Viridis Linn (Green Amaranth) on Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity

Vegetables serve as indispensable constituents of the human diet, supplying the body with minerals, vitamins and certain hormone precursors, in addition to protein and energy. Huge quantities of Amarranthus viridis (Green amaranth), is consumed all over Nigeria vegetable for various dishes. In the current study, the hepatoprotective properties of aqueous and ethanol extract of A. viridis was studied. Thirty (30) male Wister albino rats weighing between 120-140g were used for the study. The animals were divided into five (5) groups of six animals each. These include three (3), control groups; Normal Control (Water and Feeds only), Negative Control (Water, Feed and 2g/kgbw of Acetaminophen) and Positive control (Water, Feed, Sylimarin and 2g/kgbw of Acetaminophen). The other groups were two groups administered with the aqueous and ethanol leaf extracts of the plant, respectively. The results obtained shows that oral administration of a single 2g/kgbw dose of acetaminophen led to a marked increase in the serum activities of the ALT, AST and ALP of the animals in the negative control group compared to the normal control group .The groups pre-treated with 400mg/kgbw of aqueous leaf extracts of the plant showed significantly (p