WITHANIA SOMNIFERA PROTECTS THE HAEMATOLOGICAL ALTERATIONS CAUSED BY SODIUM ARSENITE IN CHARLES FOSTER RATS

This study was carried out to investigate the therapeutic role of the ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera on Sodium Arsenite induced haematological alterations in rats.Oral administration of sodium arsenite at the dose of 8 mg/kg body weight daily caused haematological alterations in rats as manifested by the significant decrease in RBC's count, Haemoglobin percentage, Haematocrit, Mean Cell Volume of RBC's (MCV), Mean Cell Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Cell Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and White Blood Cell Count (WBC's) as compared with control.The Lipid peroxidation also showed elevated levels in comparison to control.But, after oral administration of ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera at the dose of 200 mg/kg body weight daily for 30 days to Sodium Arsenite pretreated rats there was an increase in the haematological parameters as well as lipid peroxidation levels decreased significantly.The study reveals that ethanolic extract of Withania somnifera possesses protective effect against haematological alterations caused by arsenic induced toxicity.