The Histological Effect of Aqueous Extract of Ginger on the Liver of Adult Wistar Rats.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of ginger on the liver of adult wistar rats. Twenty adult wistar rats weighing 190-215g were used for the study. They were divided into four groups (A, B, C & D) of five animals each. Group A served as the control and were orally administered 0.2ml of distilled water; the experimental groups B, C & D were orally administered 0.3ml, 0.6ml and 0.9ml of aqueous extract of ginger respectively for twenty one days. Twenty four hours after the last administration, the animals were weighed, sacrificed under the influence of chloroform vapour and dissected. The liver organ were harvested, weighed and trimmed down to a size of 3mm x 3mm and fixed in 10% formalin for histological studies. The final body weight result showed that groups C & D reduced significantly (P>0.05) when compared with the control while Group B final body weight increased significantly (P>0.05) relative to the control. The mean relative organ weight in groups C and D increased significantly (P>0.05) when compare with the control while group B had a similar weight with the control group A. Histological result showed that groups C and D tissues showed mild fibrosis around the central vein, congested sinusoids in a background of hepatocellular hypertrophy while group B showed normal cyto-architecture of the liver. From these findings, aqueous ginger extract administered in high doses may cause histopathological lesions to the liver.