THE ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF CAPSELLA BURSA ON SOME BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF MICE.

Capsella bursa-pastoris is a highly nutritious and medicinal plant very popular among Asian and Middle Eastern countries. The plant is patronized for its essential mineral components, vitamins, proteins and its medicinal properties including coagulant, anticancer and wound healing potentials. In this study, a metabolic study wasperformed with the ethanolic extract obtained from dried powdered plant to analyze its effect on some biochemical parameters of mice. The experiment revealed that treatment of mice with 150-300mg/kg ethanol extract of Capsella bursa-pastoris did not produced any significant alteration on hepatic biomarker enzymes ALT, AST, Alkaline phosphatase as well as blood urea nitrogen. Although, at a higher dose, a considerable increase in serum glucose, HDL cholesterol and AST enzymes was observed. The elevated level of serum transaminase enzymes observed may be as a result of hepatic impairment caused by the plant extract. This increase may be due to the chemical content of the plant, that result in increased metabolism and activity of the cells ultimately resulting in increased efficiency of liver in the production of enzymes. On the whole, this study was able to demonstrate that ethanolic extract of Capsella bursa pastoris doesn't exert toxic effects to normal liver function in mice. Hence, it's antibacterial, anticancer, and diuretic as well as other useful applications should be harnessed adequately without fear of severe adverse effect. It also support that notion that the plant can be used in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of many human diseases due to its safety and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]