Acute toxicity test of some concoctions used for the management of malaria in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

Abstract

Practice of complementary and alternative medicines continue to gain popularity in the recent times. These medicines are products of plants prepared by local herb sellers. Many herb sellers can be sighted on the street of many towns in Ekiti State, Nigeria selling their products to community people. The medicines are either prepared as powder or concoctions. Concoctions that are used to manage malaria were randomly purchased from three herb sellers in Ado-Ekiti metropolis, Ekiti State. These were subjected to acute toxicity test in Wister strain albino rats of either sex in order to determine their biosafety. Water was administered to the test animals in lieu of concoction for the control group. No mortality was recorded 24 hours post-administration of the concoctions to the test animals. The biochemical parameters examined in the test animals were alanine amino transferase, aspartate amino transferase and creatinine, all these parameters showed no significant difference (P>0.05) from the control group. The photomicrographs of the cellular structures of the visceral organs of the test animals also showed no morphological alterations. The acute intake of the concoctions did not cause any noticeable adverse effects on the biochemical and histological composition of the test animals. The concoctions appeared not to cause any potential harm to the animals and could be considered safe pharmacologically.