Haematological and Hepatorenal Alterations Induced by Potash (Akanwu) on Male Wistar Rats

Introduction: Potash refers to the various naturally occurring water-soluble compounds of potassium used as a traditional food additive in Nigeria. Several health warnings have highlighted the deleterious effect of their consumption.

Aim: The present study is aimed at evaluating the effects of graded doses of potash consumption on haematological and hepatorenal indices using Wistar rat models.

Materials and Methods: Potash was locally sourced and the elemental composition was determined by X-Ray diffraction (XRD). Twenty (20) male Wistar rats (170 – 200g) were used for the study and were divided into four (4) groups of five (5) animals each. Group 1 served as the control while Groups 2 – 4 served as the experimental group and received an aqueous mixture of potash via oral gavage at 200, 400 and 800mg/kg respectively for thirty (30) days.

Results: XRD elemental analysis of potash revealed the presence of potassium (27.44%), phosphorus (14.27%), antimony (5.18%), barium (4.27%), fluorine (2.78%), cadmium (2.06%), yttrium (1.63%), tellurium (1.32%), caesium (1.12%), niobium (1.04%), sodium (0.42%) and germanium (0.06%). Results from haematological and hepatorenal parameters show a significant reduction in mean values of red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume among the experimental groups compared to control (p<0.05) and significantly increased mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, white blood cell count, lymphocytes, neutrophils, MID cell percentage, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, urea, creatine, sodium, potassium and chloride ions among the experimental group compared to the control (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The data presented has shown that the chronic consumption of potash at 800mg/kg can negatively alter the haematological and hepatorenal profiles of Wistar rats. Therefore, this study considers potash, a possible toxicant to the blood, liver and kidney.