Vol. 3, Issue 6, Part F (2017)

Abstract
Rauwolfia vomitoria is one of the many herbal products consumed in Nigeria for its medicinal values, especially for its antipsychotic values. Many consumers believe that herbal medicines are safe because they are natural. Herbal medicine may interact with synthetic drugs causing toxicity to the patient. 30 adult Wistar rats were used for this investigation and were randormly divided into 6 groups (A, B, C, D, E and F). From this investigation, Rauwolfia vomitoria root-bark extract was more potent than the leaf extract. The staining intensity of the neurons in the cerebellum was affected and there was hyperplasia and hypertrophy of the cerebellar astrocytes especially in groups C and D which received 200mg/kg and 300mg/kg of the ethanolic root-bark extract of Rauwolfia vomitoria. Astrocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia was found to be more in the groups that received the root-bark extract than the leaf extract treated groups. It therefore means that precaution should be taken during the consumption of the root bark of Rauwolfia vomitoria for any purposes.