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Toxicological Assessment of Ethanolic Extract of the Leaves of Newbouldia l aev is (P. Beauv)

2013; Volume: 3; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

2165-9036

O. Kolawole, Musbau A. Akanji, Moses O. Akiibinu,

Drug-Induced Hepatotoxicity and Protection

Newbouldia laevis (P. Beauv) is a med icinal plant trad itionally used to treat various diseases across African countries. In Nigeria the leaves of the plant are used in the treat ment of convulsions, diabetes, and different bacterial infections. In this study, the acute and sub-chronic toxicity profiles of the ethanolic ext ract of the leaves of N. laevis were evaluated. The effects of the extract on water intake and food consumption change in body weight, hematological and blood biochemical parameters like aminotransferases, creatinine and urea as well as histology of liver and kidney were assessed for morphological changes and inflammatory cells. The median lethal dose (LD50) of the extract was calcu lated to be 5400 mg/kg in albino mice. In the sub-chronic toxicity study, all the biochemical and hematological parameters assessed in the treated albino rats were not significantly different fro m the control except the platelet count that was significantly high at high doses. Likewise, examination of liver and kidney sections did not show any morphological changes and inflammatory cells infiltrat ions. The results of this study suggest that the ethanolic leaf ext ract of Newbouldia laevis has low to xicity profile regarding hematological, blood biochemical and histological parameters.