Histological studies of the effects of oral administration of Damiana (Turnera diffusa) on the kidneys of matured Wistar rats

Abstract

Histological studies of the effects of oral administration of Damiana extract on the kidney of matured Wistar rats were carried out. This study involved the oral administration of 0.52mg of Damiana extract daily on various days. The experimental animals were randomly divided into four groups (A,B,C,D) of five each with the D as control. The rats in group A received 0.52mg in 1ml of Damiana extract for a day, those in group B received 0.52mg Damiana extract in 1ml daily for a period of five days, while those in group C got 0.52mg./ml Damiana for ten days. The animals were sacrificed at the end of each experiment and the kidney sections were obtained and fixed for routine histological investigation.

     Histological changes observed in the treated kidney sections included the distortion of the renal cortical structures, reduced size and numbers of the renal corpuscles, and some degree of cellular necrosis. Our results suggested that the functions of the kidney could have been adversely affected due to the distortion of the cytoarchitecture of the renal cortical structures and cellular necrosis associated with the kidney. It is recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.