Toxicological and Positive Changes in Hematological Patternof Albino Rats Treated with Termitomyces Titanicus: PotentialValorization of an Indigenous Practice in the Treatment of OrisCancrum (Noma) in Nigeria

Abstract

A neglected disease affecting many malnourished children and immunosuppressed patients in sub Saharan Africa is noma caused mainly by Fusobacterium necrophorum. Poverty and malnutrition are highly implicated in the epidemiology, prevalence and poor management of noma. Local mushroomsof the gens Termitomyces have been used in parts of northern Nigeria and Cameroon to improve health of noma patients, but detail studies to authenticate the effect of this medicinal mushroom on specific chronic diseases such as noma remain inadequate. Blood transfusion remains one of the critical palliative care strategies to manage anemia in noma disease. The current preliminary study was undertaken to establish the effect of a strain of termitomyces titanicus mushroom, which has been used in Nigerian and Cameroonian folk medicine in Itas Gadau Local government and parts of Bauchi State and North west Region respectively for the management of anemia, using hematological parameters such as hemoglobin level, white blood cell stabilization and packed cell volume of albino rats and also to ascertain its safety for consumption using liver enzyme profiling. The results indicated that rats treated with Termitomyces titanicus had a higher hemoglobin level (12.2 g/dl) compared to a treatment with vitamin B complex (11.3 g/dl) and untreated (10.1 g/dl). A significant increase in the total white blood cell level (26300cells/mm3) was observed with rats treated with mushrooms compared with 7500 cells/mm3 for rats treated with vitamin B complex. Hematological parameters showed a significant difference amongst the test group compared with the controls group. The results further revealed that rats treated with termitomyces had a cleaner liver than with rats treated with vitamin B complex. The results authenticate the practice of using this mushroom in the local management of anemic conditions in Oris cancrum (noma) patients and other chronic disease conditions such as cancer.