Abstract

A. Y. Tijani1*, O. E. Ojo, D. K. Oladepo, O. A. Salawu, S. B. Mohammed , A. U.Osunkwo, K. S. Izebe and Y. Yaaba

Viracomb is a herbal based preparation used in management of conditions associated with immunosupression. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the immunostimulatory effect of Viracomb in rabbits. Acute toxicity study was carried out in rabbits using acute toxic class method. In the immunostimulatory study, healthy adult rabbits were randomized into five groups of five rabbits per group. Group I rabbits served as the positive control and received 10 ml normal saline/kg while rabbits in groups II, III, IV and V received 50 mg cyclophosphamide/kg body weight on days 0, 2 and 4 and thereafter, rabbits in groups II, III and IV were given daily doses of 75, 150 and 300 mg Viracomb/kg body weight for 28-days while group V served as the negative control. The effect of viracomb on feed and water intake, body weight changes, CD4+ count, haematological and biochemical parameters were evaluated. The oral median lethal dose was estimated to be greater than 5000 mg extract/kg body weight. Viracomb exerted significant decrease in feed intake at 75 mg/kg while slight increase in feed intake was observed at 150 and 300 mg /kg body weight. Significant (p < 0.05) decrease in water intake was observed at all dose levels used for the study. There was no remarkable change in body weight of rabbits at all doses used for the study. There was significant (p < 0.05) increase in CD4+ counts of rabbits given 150 mg / body weight kg while unremarkable changes were observed in CD4+ counts of rabbits given 75 and 300 mg/kg body weight respectively at the end of the 28-days study. Significant dose dependent increase in haematological profiles was observed while biochemical parameters remained normal. These findings indicate that viracomb is safe acutely and possess immunostimulatory activity and thus, provide evidence for its acclaimed effect in the management of immuno-suppressed related disorders.