Evaluation of the Staining Potential of Aqueous and Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Celosia argentea on Liver, Kidney and Colon Tissues of Wistar Rat

Background: Histological diagnosis relies heavily on synthetic dyes like Eosin, which are often expensive, hazardous to health, and environmentally non-degradable. There is a growing scientific interest in exploring eco-friendly, plant-based alternatives for routine tissue staining. Celosia argentea belongs to family Amaranthacea, this plant is use for traditional purposes also it is known for its brilliant colour. It is an erect plant, mostly with much branches with annual growing up to 40-200 cm tall. Aim: To evaluate the staining potential of aqueous and ethanolic leaf extract of Celosia argentea on liver, kidney and colon tissues of Wistar rat. Materials and Methods: Physical and phytochemical analysis of the plant were determined. Fresh leaves were dried, pulverized, and extracted via maceration. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts were prepared, 1% and 2% were prepared from the extract. Liver, kidney and colon tissues of Wistar rats were harvested and processed. The tissues were stained using H and E as control, some were stained using 1%, 2% of the extracts with varying time of 5mins, 10mins for each tissue. Results: The physical analysis of aqueous extract demonstrated a dried texture while ethanolic extraction demonstrated a gummy texture. Phytochemicals revealed the presence of carbohydrate, protein, alkaloid, flavonoids, cardiac glycoside, saponin, phenol, steroid and tannins in aqueous and ethanolic extract. Histological results revealed the aqueous extract demonstrated a good staining intensity compared to ethanolic extract, which exhibited poor staining. 2% aqueous extract stained for 10mins produced the good staining reaction compared to 5mins, effectively staining the cytoplasm of the three organs. Conclusion: The results show that aqueous extract Celosia argentea at 2% concentration stained tissues at 10 minutes duration will give a good contrast of cytoplasmic staining of liver, kidney and colon tissues. Also, this study concluded that Celosia argentea might be a promising natural staining dye that can replace eosin as synthetic dye.