Effect of <i>Chromolaena odorata</i> Extracton Hematotoxicity and Spleen Histopathology Induced by <i>Salmonella typhi</i> in Wistar Rats

Abstract

Salmonella typhi is a facultative intracellular pathogen that causes typhoid fever in humans. In the present study, the effect of Salmonella typhi infection on hematological indices and spleen histology in Wistar rats was investigated and was followed by an evaluation of the ameliorative potential of the methanol leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata (MLECO) compared with ciprofloxacin treatment. The animals were divided into six groups: group 1 was normal control, group 2 was infected with Salmonella typhi without treatment (negative control), groups 3, 4 and 5 were Salmonella typhi infected and treated with 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of the extract respectively and group 6 was also Salmonella typhi infected and treated with 500 mg/70kg of ciprofloxacin. The animals were inoculated with a single infectious dose of Salmonella typhi bacteria and thereafter, treated with the extract and ciprofloxacin for a period of seventeen days, after the animals were confirmed infected. The rats were humanely sacrificed and blood samples taken for haematological investigations, and the spleen harvested and processed for histological examinations. Chromolaena odorata administration reversed the adverse hematotoxicity and histopathological changes in the spleen induced by Salmonella typhi infection.