Uterine hyperthrophy in rats following treatment with gnetum Africanum extract: Prevention by aframomum melequeta extract.

B43 Uterine fibroids are prevalent in Nigerian women. Their origin are not very clear although our diets have been implicated in its etiology. In this study one of the most widely consumed vegetable in Nigeria is investigated following a survey from women who have been diagnosed of uterine fibroid. Alkaloid and aqueous extract of Gnetum africanum were administered orally for 31 days to two sets of Wistar rats. Group 1 animals served as control while group 2 and 3 were treated with 200mg/kg body weight and 800 mg/kg weight of the alkaloid extract. Groups 4 and 5 were also treated with 200 and 800 mg/kg weight of the aqueous extract for 31 days. In another experiment animals were pre-treated with ethanolic extract of Aframomum melequeta seeds for 21 days and subsequently treated as in experiments 1. The results obtained showed that pre-treatment with Aframomum melequeta seed extract prevented the hypertrophy of uterine smooth muscle following treatment with Gnetum africanum. The study concludes that Gnetum africanum possesses estrogenic activity and may be a significant contributory factor to the development of uterine fibroids in Nigerian women. The effects of ethanolic extract of Aframomum melequeta suggest that it may possess anti-estrogenic agents and thus may be exploited in the prevention of uterine hypertrophy induced by estrogenic compounds.