The effect of ethinyl estradiol containing oral contraceptive pill on the hemostatic function of platelet of women

The study focused on the comparative determination of the effects of the combination of leaf extracts of Carica papaya (CP) and Vernonia amygdalina (VA) and Artemether-based combination therapy (ACTs) on Plasmodium berghei infected male wistar rats. Fifty (50) male wistar rats, weighing 100 to 150g, were allotted into 5 groups (n=7). Group 2 (negative control) was infected but not treated, groups 3-5 which were infected received 250mg/kg b.w each of CP and VA in combination and 4mg/kg b.w of the two reference ACTs. Treatment was done orally once daily for 3 consecutive days, after which the animals were sacrificed and haematological analysis carried out. Afterwards, an observatory period of 7 days commenced after which another round of sacrifice was done. Before treatment, parasitemia count of animals in groups 3-5 was substantially (p<0.05) higher when juxtaposed with group 2. AST and ALT activities were significantly (p<0.05) elevated in group 3-5 when matched with group 2. Plasmodium berghei induction meaningfully (p<0.05) lowered white blood cell (WBC) at all groups. After treatment, the extracts and drug which notably (p<0.05) lowered plasmodium count, RBC, WBC, PCV, Hb and Platelet levels, did not meaningfully(p>0.05) affect the activities of ALP, AST and ALT. After 7 days of observation, the extracts and drug efficaciously (p<0.05) reduced plasmodium count, WBC and ALP activity further at all groups. These results indicate that the leaf extracts in combination are as efficacious as the ACTs.