Department of Physiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria.
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Gitwe, Gitwe, P.O. Box 1 Nyanza, Ruhango District, Southern Province, Republic of Rwanda.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 Apr 24;216:157-161. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.01.018. Epub 2018 Jan 17.
Telfairia occidentalis Hook.f. (TO) is popular in Nigeria for the ethnopharmacological use of its leaves to improve haematological parameters in normal and anaemic subjects. Cytokines are well-known to regulate haematopoiesis. However, their involvement in TO-associated haematopoietic effect is not known and necessitated this study.
Twenty-five (25) male rats were randomly divided into 3 oral treatment groups as follows: Group 1 (control, n=5) received 0.2 ml/kg normal saline for 14 days. Groups 2 and 3 (n= 10 each) were subdivided into 2 (n=5) and received 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of aqueous extract of TO respectively for 7 or 14 days.
TO had dose- and duration-dependent effects on the estimated parameters. Both doses of TO increased the RBC, WBC and erythropoietin concentrations at 14 but not 7 days. Moreover, its 100 mg/kg increased haemoglobin, neutrophil, and interleukin-3 concentrations at 7 days, while 200 mg/kg increased PCV and neutrophils at 14 days, lymphocytes at 7 days, and haemoglobin at both durations.
The haematopoietic effect of TO might be partly mediated by cytokines (interleukin-3 and erythropoietin) but independent of testosterone.
西非藤（TO）在尼日利亚因其叶子被广泛用于改善正常和贫血受试者的血液学参数而被用于民族药理学。细胞因子是众所周知的调节造血作用的物质。然而，它们在 TO 相关的造血作用中的参与情况尚不清楚，这促使我们进行了这项研究。
25 只雄性大鼠随机分为 3 个口服治疗组，如下：第 1 组（对照组，n=5）连续 14 天每天接受 0.2ml/kg 的生理盐水。第 2 组和第 3 组（n=10 只）分为 2 组（n=5），分别连续 7 天或 14 天接受 100mg/kg 和 200mg/kg 的 TO 水提物。
TO 对估计参数具有剂量和时间依赖性影响。TO 的两种剂量均在第 14 天而非第 7 天增加了 RBC、WBC 和促红细胞生成素浓度。此外，其 100mg/kg 在第 7 天增加了血红蛋白、中性粒细胞和白细胞介素-3 浓度，而 200mg/kg 在第 14 天增加了 PCV 和中性粒细胞，在第 7 天增加了淋巴细胞，在两个时间段均增加了血红蛋白。
TO 的造血作用可能部分由细胞因子（白细胞介素-3 和促红细胞生成素）介导，但与睾酮无关。
