Leucocytic profile of rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma brucei brucei and treated with a combination of methanolic leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica and diminazene diaceturate

This study investigated the leucocytic profile of rats experimentally infected with T rypanosoma brucei brucei and treated with a combination of methanolic Azadirachta indica leaf extracts (MAILE) plus diminazene diaceturate (DDA). Acute toxicity study of the drug and extract combinations was carried. Selection of the best drug and extract combinations was carried out using 54 rats of both sexes separated into nine groups. Three dose combinations were derived from the selection of the best drug and extract combinations used for the final study viz, 7 mg/kg body weight (bw) DDA plus 125 mg/kg bw extract (group B), 3.5 mg/kg bw DDA plus 250 mg/kg bw extract (group C) and 1.8 mg/kg bw DDA plus 500 mg/kg bw extract (group D). The final study had in addition to the three groups derived from the dose–response study, four other groups viz, uninfected untreated negative control (group F), infected and treated with 3,000 mg/kg bw extract alone (group E), infected and treated with 7 mg/kg bw DDA alone (group A) and infected untreated positive control (group G). The parameters assessed were onset of parasitaemia (OP), level of parasitaemia (LOP), clearance of parasites post-treatment (COPPT), relapse infection period (RIP), total white blood cell counts (TWBC) and differential white blood cell counts. There was no significant difference ( p