WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

*Igile G. O., Iwara A. I., Ekpe O. O., Isika A. I. and Mgbeje B. I. A.

ABSTRACT

Western lifestyle, urban diets and physical inactivity among urban dwellers in Nigeria have caused increase in incidences of hypertension among people of 40 years and above. Drugs for its treatment are expensive, while ethnopharmacology seem to provide alternative and cheaper options. Aqueous leaf extracts of Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter leaf) has been successfully used for centuries in Nigeria to treat hypertension, other cardiovascular diseases, stomach pains, fever and malaria. The present study evaluates the antihypertensive potential of Vernonioside E (VE) and crude extract (CE) of Vernonia amygdalina leaf, and the efficacy of VE and CE in reversing serum electrolyte concentrations, lipid/cholesterol, and enzyme activities implicated in the aetiology and manifestation of hypertension using Albino Wistar rats previously induced with 40mg/Kg bw hypertensive agent (N?-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride, L-NAME) as study model. The LD50 of VE was also determined, while LD50 of CE has been previously determined and known. The LD50 of VE was determined to be 0.70 mg/kg. Vernonioside E (105.25± 2.29 mEq/L), the crude extract (108.55± 2.41 mEq/L) and Captopril (112.99± 2.30 mEq/L) produced significant (p