The Effects of Glo- Herbal on the Intestinal Crypt Viability of Mice after Whole- Body Irradiation

Abstract

Glo- Herbal is a locally manufactured food supplement that is made up of plant extracts. A number of people have claimed that the product has various healing properties. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of Glo- Herbal in intestinal crypt regeneration of mice after exposure to gamma radiation. The number of crypts was used as the index for measuring cell survival in the small intestines. In preparation for administration, one liter of Glo- Herbal was freeze- dried, converted into powdered form and diluted in phosphate buffer solution. 15 male albino mice were divided into three experimental set- ups. Group A was injected intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg body weight of Glo- Herbal so as group B and group C with 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight of Glo-Herbal respectively. All three experimental groups were irradiated with 15 Gy of gamma radiation 1 hour post administration of Glo- Herbal. Results showed that Glo- Herbal had no effect on crypt regeneration due to the small differences In mean crypt counts for the three experimental groups (A=1.6, B=10, C=2.2) and the irradiated control (0.67). The experimental values also exhibited a very large difference from the unirradiated control (111.33). Statistical analysis using ANOVA and LSD for villi length revealed that the means for the experimental groups (A=39.67, B= 43.93, C= 54.73) were not significantly different from the irradiated control (36.67) but were significantly different from the unirradiated control (77.33). Thus, Glo- herbal has no effect on villi length. For the qualitative parameters, the three experimental groups showed a high percentage for cellular viability (75-80%) and a very low percentage structural integrity (1-25%). With respect to necrosis, all three experimental groups exhibited very low values (0- 15%).