Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25435610›Full record

ArticleAfrican journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM2014

Effects of Ficus thonningii extracts on the gastrointestinal tract and clinical biochemistry of suckling rats.

R Dangarembizi, K H Erlwanger, E Chivandi

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

R DangarembiziSchool of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa ; Faculty of Medicine, National University of Science and Technology, Box AC939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
K H ErlwangerSchool of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
E ChivandiSchool of Physiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
University of the Witwatersrand · ZA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFicus thonningii is commonly used in traditional medicine across the African continent. We investigated the effects of crude Ficus thonningii extracts on growth, morphology and morphometry of the abdominal viscera and clinical biochemistry of neonatal rats. MATERIALS AND

methodsForty, 6-day old Sprague Dawley rat pups were orally gavaged once daily with either low (50 mg.kg(-1) b.w) or high (500 mg.kg(-1) b.w) doses of aqueous or methanolic F. thonningii leaf extracts while the control received distilled water. After 7 days of treatment, the pups were euthanased and gross morphometric measurements of the abdominal visceral organs were recorded. Samples of the liver, caecum and proximal small intestine were processed for histology. Plasma biochemical parameters were analysed colorimetrically.

resultsHigh methanolic doses of F. thonningii extracts exhibited trophic effects on the stomach while both aqueous and methanolic extracts had trophic effects on the ceacal mucosa of rats. No significant growth-promoting effects were observed in other visceral organs. Histological analysis revealed no mucosal damage or necrosis. Clinical biochemistry parameters were not abnormally altered. There was a significant decrease (p<0.05, ANOVA) in the plasma concentration of non-fasting glucose in the high methanolic group but triglycerides and cholesterol were unaltered.

conclusionThe findings suggest that at low doses, F. thonningii extracts can be safely used without the risk of any disruption in the structural integrity of the neonatal rat GIT and function of the liver and kidneys.

Indexed as

AnimalsAnimals, NewbornDrugs, Chinese HerbalFemaleFicusGastrointestinal TractKidneyLiverMalePlant LeavesRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyDrugs, Chinese Herbalclinical biochemistryFicus thonningiigastrointestinal tracthistologyneonate

Identifiers

PMID25435610
PMCPMC4202634
OpenAlexW1995077905

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.