A 90-Day Oral Toxicity Study of an Ethanolic Root Extract of (L.) Roxb. in Wistar Rats.

BACKGROUND

Plant medicine is the oldest form of health care known to mankind; hence, studies on their safety for use are essential for the control of adverse drug effects. In Benin, is one of many medicinal plants used as aphrodisiac, and for treatment of various ailments including prostatic hyperplasia. Despite its numerous ethnomedicinal benefits, toxicological information associated with its chronic use is currently limited.

OBJECTIVE

The present study therefore assessed the toxicity of an ethanolic root extract of in Wistar rats.

METHODS

root extract was administered by oral gavage at doses of 31.25, 125, and 500 mg/kg/day for 90 days to male Wistar rats, after which body weight changes, food consumption, urinary parameters, hematological and blood biochemical parameters, organ weights changes, gross pathology, and histopathology of vital organs were assessed.

RESULTS

There were no death or abnormal clinical signs, no significant changes in body weight gain or urinary parameters, and no changes in necropsy and histopathology findings of vital organs associated with extract treatment. However, some indices such as erythrocytes, total cholesterol, and aspartate amino transferase increased in rats treated with high doses of the extract, as well as relative weight of testes, followed by a decrease in food intake and prostate relative weight.

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that an ethanolic root extract of does not cause significant adverse effects and suggest its tolerability up to 500 mg/kg for daily administration of 90 days.