Histological effects of chronic consumption of Nutmeg on the superior colliculus of adult Wistar rats

Abstract

The effects of chronic consumption of nutmeg commonly used as a spice in various dishes, as components of teas and soft drinks or mixed in milk and alcohol on the superior colliculus of adult wistar rats was carefully studied. The rats of both sexes (n = 24), with average weight of 200g were randomly assigned into two treatment (A & B) (n=16) and Control (c) (n=8) groups. The rats in the treatment groups (A & B) received 1g and 2g of nutmeg thoroughly mixed with the feeds respectively on a daily basis for thirty-two days. The control group (c) received equal amount of feeds daily without nutmeg added for thirty-two days. The growers mash feeds was obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Limited, Ewu, Edo state,Nigeriaand the rats were given water liberally. The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation on the thirty-three days of the experiment. The superior colliculus was carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for histological study.

The findings indicate that rats in the treated groups (A&B) showed some cellular degenerative changes, hypertrophy, sparse cellular population, mild edema and vacuolations in the stroma of the superior colliculus as compared to the control group. Chronic consumption of nutmeg may therefore have an adverse effect on the visual sensibilities by affecting the microanatomy of the superior colliculus of adult wistar rats. It is recommended for further studies aimed at corroborating these observations.