EFFECTS OF GUAVA (PSIDIUM GUAJAVA) EXTRACT ON LIVER HISTOLOGY IN ALLOXAN-INDUCED HYPERGLYCEMIA RATS

The guava (Psidium guajava), an economically significant tropical fruit, is widely valued for its nutritional, flavor and health benefits. The present study evaluates the effects of guava leaf extract on liver histology in alloxan-induced hyperglycemic rats. Twenty (24) adult male wistar rats were divided into 3 groups of 8 rats in each group. Group A received distilled water and served as control group, while Group B received alloxan and Group C received 200 mg/kg of guava leaf extract for a duration of 21 days. Hyperglycemia is induced by use of intraperitoneal injection of Alloxan. The body weight of the wistar rats were recorded and histological analysis were done. At the end of the experiment, the animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The liver were carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10 % formal saline and subsequently processed for histological observation using the Haematoxylin and Eosin staining principle. Alloxan treatment significantly (P ≤ 0.05) decreased the body weight of the rat. Histology of liver of control animals showed normal liver cells with well-defined cytoplasm and the histological structure of the central vein and surrounding hepatocytes was normal. However, the group treated with alloxan only showed hepatic necrosis, inflammatory cells and necrotic cells. Hyperglycemic animals treated with guava leaf extract administration resulted in the preservation of the tubular histology by reducing the scores of histopathological damage compared to alloxan treated group. The results show that guava leaf extract normalizes the effects of damaged caused by alloxan on the liver and can be used as an effective hepatoprotective agent against alloxan-induced hyperglycemia. Further research is needed to identify bioactive compounds, explore mechanisms, and assess efficacy and safety in clinical settings.