Nigatu Tilahun Alemayehu, Afework Mekbeb, Urga Kelbessa, Ergete Wondwossen, Gebretsadik Tewodros Gebremariam, Makonnen Eyasu
Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
Ethiop J Health Sci. 2017 Jan;27(1):35-46. doi: 10.4314/ejhs.v27i1.6.
Aqueous preparations of a medicinal plant, Gnidia stenophylla Gilg (Thymelaeaceae) are commonly used to cure malaria and other ailments in Ethiopia. This study evaluated the safety of the plant extract by determining its effects on food intake and histology of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) after oral administration for 13 weeks in albino mice.
Thirty mice were equally assigned to three groups. Group I served as control and received a vehicle while groups II and III were given 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight/day plant extract respectively, orally, for 13 weeks. At the end of the study, the mice were scarified and postmortem gross and histopathological evaluations were performed on their stomachs and intestines.
Chronic oral treatment with the extract for 13 weeks did not induce any sign of illness and death and had no effect on food intake of the mice. Furthermore, extract treatment at both doses did not produce any detectable gross morphological change in GIT. Microscopic evaluation of sections of the stomach, duodenum and jejunum of the mice treated with 400 mg/kg body weight did not show any histopathological change. In the mice treated with 800 mg/kg body weight, however, the GIT sections revealed cytoplasmic vacuolation, hydropic degeneration and excessive erosion of the surface mucosal cells.
The results of this study revealed that aqueous root extract of G. stenophylla at effective antimalarial dose is safe even when taken for a longer period in mice. At a higher dose, however, the extract may induce gastrointestinal irritation. Further studies on other vital organs and non-rodent species including humans are recommended.
药用植物窄叶格尼草（瑞香科）的水剂在埃塞俄比亚通常用于治疗疟疾和其他疾病。本研究通过测定白化小鼠口服该植物提取物13周后对食物摄入量和胃肠道组织学的影响，评估了该植物提取物的安全性。
将30只小鼠平均分为三组。第一组作为对照组，给予赋形剂，而第二组和第三组分别以400和800毫克/千克体重/天的剂量口服植物提取物，持续13周。在研究结束时，处死小鼠，并对其胃和肠道进行死后大体和组织病理学评估。
用该提取物进行13周的慢性口服治疗未诱发任何疾病和死亡迹象，对小鼠的食物摄入量也没有影响。此外，两种剂量的提取物治疗均未在胃肠道产生任何可检测到的大体形态变化。对体重400毫克/千克的小鼠的胃、十二指肠和空肠切片进行显微镜评估，未发现任何组织病理学变化。然而，在体重800毫克/千克的小鼠中，胃肠道切片显示细胞质空泡化、水样变性和表面黏膜细胞过度糜烂。
本研究结果表明，窄叶格尼草的根水提取物在有效抗疟剂量下即使在小鼠中长期服用也是安全的。然而，在较高剂量下，该提取物可能会引起胃肠道刺激。建议对包括人类在内的其他重要器官和非啮齿动物物种进行进一步研究。
