Abstract
Citrus macroptera Montr. (C. macroptera) is locally known as Satkara. The fruit of this plant is used as appetite stimulant and in the treatment of fever. This study therefore aimed to evaluate the toxic effects of the fruit extract using some biochemical and hematological parameters in rat model. The effects of methanol extract of Citrus macroptera Montr. fruit administered at 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight were investigated on hematological and biochemical parameters in Sprague-Dawley female rats. Moreover, histopathological study was performed to observe the presence of pathological lesions in primary body organs. The extract presented no significant effect on body weight, percent water content, relative organ weight and hematological parameters in rat. Significant decrease from control group was observed in the levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein and very low density lipoprotein; thus leading to significant decrease of cardiac risk ratio, castelli's risk index-2, atherogenic coefficient and atherogenic index of plasma at all doses. 500 mg/kg dose significantly decreased alkaline phosphatase (P<0.05), 1000 mg/kg dose significantly increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.05) and 250 mg/kg dose significantly decreased the level of glycated hemoglobin (P<0.05) from the control group. There were no significant alterations observed with other serum biochemical parameters. Histopathological study confirmed the absence of inflammatory and necrotic features in the primary body organs. Study results indicate that methanolic fruit extract is unlikely to have significant toxicity. Moreover, these findings justified the cardio-protective, moderate hepato-protective and glucose controlling activities of the fruit extract.
Highlights
Medicinal plants were and are still one of the major sources of modern medicine
Plants produce bioactive compounds that act as defense mechanism against predators and at the same time may be toxic in nature for our health
In our study we found no significant alteration in % water content of primary organs from control group which buttresses the claim that the fruit extract does not have toxic effects on normal fluid content and role of body fluid in maintaining homeostasis system
Summary
Medicinal plants were and are still one of the major sources of modern medicine. Interest in medicinal plant’s pharmacognosy has increased due to using trend of phytotherapy as alternative medicine [1,2]. With the increased interest in the pharmacological activities of the medicinal plants, there is a surge for thorough scientific investigations of these medicinal plants for efficacy and potential toxicity. Chowdhury et al (2008) reported the antioxidant activities of crude extracts of the stem bark of Citrus macroptera and isolated lupeol and stigmasterol [4]. Rana et al (2012) reported that essential oils obtained by hydro-distillation from the fresh peels of Citrus macroptera contained limonene, beta-caryophyllene and geranial as main compounds [6]. Nowadays many Bangladeshi and Indian restaurants offer meat and chicken curries cooked with Satkara. This fruit is used as appetite stimulant and in treatment of fever [8]. It is easy to evaporate this solvent and we get maximum bioactive compounds of the extract by minimizing the loss of compounds due to excessive heat [9]
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