An Experimental Study on the Abortificient Potentials of Unripe Seed Extract of Carica papaya in Adult Female Wistar Rats
[1]
Ekhator C. N., Department of Physiology, Faculty of basic Medical sciences, College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria.
[2]
Shelu J. O., Department of Physiology, Faculty of basic Medical sciences, College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria.
This study is aimed at investigating the abortifacient potentials of Caricapapaya (C. papaya) using adult female rats as a model. Female rats (CP1 – CP5) served as the experimental group while female rats (CP6 and CP7) served as the control group. Each rat in both groups was given 20g of normal rat chow and water adlibitum during the experiment. In addition to this diet, each rat in the experimental group was force fed orally with 1ml/kg body weight of aqueous seed extract of unripe C. papaya form by dissolving 1gram of blended fresh C. papaya seed in 10ml for 2hrs. Administration of aqueous seed extract of C. papaya begins from the 5th day to 15th day. The results showed that mean body weights were significantly lower (p<0.05) in the group treated with extract of C. papaya at the second (233.00±20.00g versus 194.00±22.21g) and third week (272.40±45.50g versus 185.00±21.25g) of pregnancy compared to the control. Our findings indicate that C. papaya seed is abortifacient. It also showed that the time window of pregnancy at which the seed extract of C. papaya exhibited abortifacient effect was from the second trimester of pregnancy and resulted into zero fetus at the end of the third trimester.
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