Asian Journal of Immunology

Background:  Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic dysfunction marked with prolonged excessive glucose level, with disruptions in the metabolism of starch, lipids, and amino acids due to excessive production and/or inadequate utilization of glucose.

Objective: To assess the protective impact of Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and Gongronema latifolium (GL) on splenic cytoarchitechure in STZ induced glycemic disorder rats using quantitative and histological methods.

Materials and Methods: A total of thirty Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups of five rats each, weighing between 150-200g.  The groups were marked as A, B, C, D, E and F. Group A [Normal control] received distilled water, B [Diabetic control] received 45mg/kg body weight of Streptozocin, C received 100mg/kg of the extract VA only; D received 100mg/kg of GL extract only. E received 5mg/kg of Metformin and F received combined 100mg/kg of VA and GL for fourteen days. Twenty four hours after the last administration, the animals were sacrificed and the spleen was harvested, fixed, processed, stained with H&E and the spleen volume was estimate using Cavalieri method and data were analyzed using ANOVA at p<0.05.

Results: The diabetic group treated with STZ only revealed reduced white pulp and the marginal zone and an apparent decrease in the cellular density of the lymphocyte component of the pulp, with positive Perl’s stain. The stereological analysis of the spleen showed a significant decrease of the splenic pulp volume density and a significant increase in the connective tissue volume density, which significantly improved after treatment with the combined extract of VA+GL-treated rats. The reduction of splenic pulp was mainly due to the decrease in the volume density of all structural components of the white pulp.

Conclusion: it can be suggested that combined ethanolic extracts of VA+GL when used in combination can be used in management of diabetes.