Haematological and serum biochemical responses of rabbit does to crude Moringa oleifera leaf extract at gestation and lactation.

As the plant Moringa oleifera is used in herbal medicines for animals, an experiment was carried out to assess the effects of crude M. oleifera leaf extract (CMOLE) on the blood profile of rabbit does during gestation and lactation. Twenty-four mature does (mean weight 2200 g) housed individually were assigned to four treatments in a completely randomised design. The animals in treatments 2, 3 and 4 were orally given 100, 200 and 300 mL/L CMOLE, respectively, at 2.5 mL/kg body weight at 48 h intervals for 9 weeks. The control animals (treatment 1) were given with water only. All the does were mated with untreated bucks 2 weeks into the experiment. Blood samples were collected at 3rd trimester (day 25 of gestation) and 2nd week of lactation. During gestation, levels of erythrocytes, leukocytes, haematocrit, haemoglobin, lymphocytes, monocytes and eosinophils were not significantly different among the treatments. However, animals on treatment 2 had the highest platelets (148.8 × 10(9)/L), not significantly different from those on treatments 3 (141.5 × 10(9)/L) and 4 (135.0 × 10(9)/L), but higher (p < 0.05) than the control (126.6 × 10(9)/L). Haematological parameters during lactation were not significantly different among the treatments. Of the serum biochemical variables examined during gestation, only urea was higher (p < 0.05) in control rabbits than those administered with 300 mL/L CMOLE. In lactation, only cholesterol was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced with an increase in CMOLE concentration. This suggests that Moringa has a hypocholesterolemic effect and is safe for use up to 300 mL/L for both nutritional and medicinal purposes.