Acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies of the ethanol extract of the leaves of Sphenocentrum jollyanum (Menispermaceae)

摘要

The acute toxicity study of the leaves of Sphenocentrum jollyanum (SJ) showed no toxicity whenadministered up to 11g/kg body weight orally while intra-peritoneal (IP) administration produceddose dependent mortality with median acute toxicity (LD50) of 1445.4 mg/kg. In sub-chronic study,the extract administered for a period of 120 days showed no mortality or morbidity. There wassignificant weight gain in both treated and control groups while gross examination of internalorgans revealed no detectable inflammation. The blood glucose and total cholesterol levelsdemonstrated dose dependent decrease while high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLcholesterol)increased with dose. In the liver function test, there were no significant (p>0.05)changes in alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspertate amino transferase (AST) in the extracttreated animals. The renal function profile, serum creatinine and urea levels were not significantlyaltered compared to the control. In haematological evaluation, significant increase (p<0.05) in redblood cells (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV) and haemoglobin (Hb) were observed in the treatedanimals compared to the control while mean corpuscular (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin(MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and white blood cells (WBC)showed no significant changes. The result therefore suggests that the leaves extract waspotentially safe for consumption orally even at chronic administration.