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%).
