Effect of Aqueous Extract of Gmelina arborea Leaves on Haematology of Female Rabbits

Abstract

A 14-week study using thirty two (32) female grower rabbits weighing between 900-1000g was conducted to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Gmelina arborea leaves on haematological indices of female grower rabbits. The rabbits were randomly grouped into four and assigned to four treatments of 0 (T₁), 200 (T₂), 400 (T₃), and 600ml/L (T₄) of aqueous extracts of Gmelina arborea leaves. Each treatment consisting of 8 rabbits per group was replicated 8 times, one rabbit per replicate. At the endoftheexperimentaltrialwhichlastedfor56days,bloodsampleswerecollectedfromtherabbitsandevaluated. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed on Packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), white blood cell (WBC), Lymphocyte and platelets. Red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were similar (p>0.05) across the treatments. Haematological values obtained were comparable to reported normal values for healthy rabbits. This study thus showed that aqueous extract of Gmelina arborea leaves up to 600 ml per litre support normal blood profile of female rabbits.