THE EFFECTS OF ETHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF MEDICAGO SATIVA ON THE LIVER AND PANCREAS OF ADULT MALE WISTAR RATS

Introduction: Medicago sativa commonly known as Alfafa belongs to the family Fabaceae. Alfafa is rich in Vitamin K which is used medicinally to stimulate blood clotting. Medicago sativa nearly lacks anti-herbivory compounds that are common in other plants, which makes it a very desirable forage. In some places or villages most individuals often talk about its health benefits but nothing or little is known about its possible side effects or health benefits that could be associated with this plant Aim of this study: This study investigated the effect of ethanol leaf extract of the plant, Medicago sativa on the histology of pancreas and liver, body weight and blood sugar levels of adult male Wistar rats Materials and Methodolgy: Twelve male and nine female Wistar rats were used for this study. The male rats were selected randomly into four groups and females into three groups respectively. The females were used to test for the signs of acute toxicity. The males: group A, served as the control group and were administered feed grower pellets and distilled water, groups B, C and D were administered selected doses of the extract. The liver and pancreas were harvested and processed. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS package version 23. The results were presented as mean ± SE. At p