Abstract
Abelmoschus moschatus Medik. (family: Malvaceae) has a long history of being used as a folk medicine in Sri Lanka. Despite the therapeutic use of this plant in traditional medicine, leaves of A. moschatus have not been subjected to scientific evaluation of toxicity/adverse effects in vivo. Thus, the present study was aimed to assess the acute and 28-day repeated-dose oral toxic effects of hexane (55 mg/kg), ethyl acetate (75 mg/kg), butanol (60 mg/kg), and aqueous (140 mg/kg) leaf extracts of A. moschatus in Wistar rats. Furthermore, identification of phytochemical constituents and determination of in vitro total antioxidant activity of the selected leaf extracts of A. moschatus were carried out. Repeated-dose oral administration of hexane and aqueous plant extracts produced no significant changes in the hematological profile and in selected biochemical parameters compared to the untreated healthy rats (p > 0.05). The administration of ethyl acetate and butanol extracts resulted in significant changes in some of the hematological parameters (p < 0.05), whereas biochemical parameters were not changed (p > 0.05). No significant changes in the relative organ weight of treated rats were observed (p > 0.05) except in the kidneys of Wistar rats treated with the ethyl acetate extract of A. moschatus (p < 0.05). Normal morphology with no signs of hemorrhages, necrosis, or inflammatory cell infiltrations was observed in the vital organs selected during the assessment of histopathology on H and E-stained tissue sections upon the treatment of selected extracts. Alkaloids were absent in the selected leaf extracts excluding the health risk for harmful alkaloids. The highest total antioxidant activity was reported in the butanol extract. In conclusion, the hexane and aqueous extracts of A. moschatus were completely nontoxic, whereas butanol and ethyl acetate extracts showed statistically significant changes in some hematological parameters and in relative organ weight of kidneys in healthy Wistar rats.
Highlights
A revival of interest in the use of phytomedicines has emerged worldwide for the management of a variety of diseases [1, 2]
Arseculeratne et al [34] have identified five more plant species commonly used in Sri Lankan traditional medicine, namely, Hemidesmus indicus, Withania somnifera, Madhuca longifolia, Terminalia chebula, Aegle marmelos as negative for pyrrolizidine alkaloids, causing varying degrees of damage to hepatic, pulmonary, and renal tissues. ese findings suggest the use of a wide range of medicinal plants with certain toxic substances in traditional remedies in Sri Lanka
There is an urgent necessity for conducting toxicity studies for medicinal plants that are widely used in traditional medicine in a suitable animal model
Summary
A revival of interest in the use of phytomedicines has emerged worldwide for the management of a variety of diseases [1, 2]. Sparse evidence is available on their bioactivities and toxic phytoconstituents for the majority of the herbal medicines in use. E functions of signaling molecules, neuropeptides, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the human body could be antagonized by the phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and saponins present in medicinal plants. Aristolochic acid present in Aristolochia species has identified as a phytochemical toxicant involved in the development of nephropathies and carcinogenesis [1]. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are another category found in more than 12 higher plant families which include toxic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic phytochemicals [13]. Identification of toxic plant extracts or toxic compounds in medicinal plants would be extremely important since it would facilitate modification or rejection of possible toxicants at the early stages in the process of drug development from medicinal plants [1]
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