Abstract
Hunteria umbellata (K. Schum.) Hallier f. (family: Apocynaceae) is reputed for the folkloric management of labour, pain and swellings, stomach ulcers, diabetes, obesity, and anaemia, with no scientific report of its toxicity and reversibility profile. The present study was, therefore, aimed at investigating the in vivo toxicity and reversibility profile of the aqueous seed extract of Hunteria umbellata (HU). The acute oral and intraperitoneal toxicity studies of HU were determined in Swiss albino mice while its 90-day oral toxicity and toxicity reversibility profile on anthropometric, biochemical, haematological and histopathological parameters were also assessed using standard procedures. Results showed that the LD50 values for the acute oral and intraperitoneal toxicity studies for HU were estimated to be 1000 mg/kg and 459.3 mg/kg, respectively. Visible signs of immediate and delayed toxicities including starry hair coat, respiratory distress, and dyskinesia were observed. For the chronic oral toxicity study, HU administered for 90 days produced significant (p < 0.001) reductions in the weight gain pattern and significant (p < 0.001) and dose related increases in the relative weights of liver, stomach, spleen, testis, lungs and heart, at the 100 and 500 mg/kg of HU. Chronic HU treatment also produced significant (p < 0.05, p < 0.001) dose related reductions in the serum levels of fasting blood glucose, bicarbonate, urea and creatinine while causing non-significant (p > 0.05) alterations in the serum levels of sodium, potassium, alaninine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, total and conjugated bilirubin, total protein and albumin. Also, chronic oral treatment with HU produced significant (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001) and dose-related increases in the red cell count, packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration, platelet count, total leucocyte count and lymphocyte differential while producing significant (p < 0.05) reductions in neutrophil and granulocyte differentials. HU also produced histological features of proliferations of the stomach epithelia, lung tissues, splenic white and red pulps, and testicular spermatogenic series. Following 14 days of oral toxicity reversibility test, there was no significant (p>0.05) reversal in the serum levels of the biochemical and haematological parameters investigated, including the HU-induced histological lesions. Overall, results of this study showed that HU has a relatively low oral toxicity profile but its prolonged use, particularly, at high doses should be with great caution.
Highlights
Introduction(Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant with a long standing use in the treatment of various ailments in Nigeria and Ghana (Adegoke and Alo, 1986)
Treatment with Hunteria umbellata (HU) did not cause mortality for up to 125 mg/kg body weight but increasing mortality was recorded with increasing doses of 250, 500, 750, 1500, 1750 and 2000 mg/kg body weight orally
Treatment with HU significantly and dose-dependently increased the haemoglobin concentration (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV), platelet counts (PLT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total leucocyte count (TLC), and lymphocyte while causing significant and dose-related (p
Summary
(Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant with a long standing use in the treatment of various ailments in Nigeria and Ghana (Adegoke and Alo, 1986). In African folk medicine, various extracts prepared from different parts of the plant Hunteria umbellata Are employed in the treatment of various human diseases such as sexually transmitted infections including yaws, stomach ulcers, pains and swellings, diabetes mellitus, dysmenorrhoea and to induce or augment labour (Adegoke and Alo, 1986; Falodun et al, 2006). Is highly valued in the local management of diabetes mellitus, obesity, stomach ache, pains and swellings, hypertension and as immune booster (Boone, 2006; Adeneye and Adeyemi, 2009a). Falodun et al (2006) and Igbe et al (2009) reported the oxytocic effect of the leaf aqueous extract and antipyretic and analgesic effect of the fresh fruit pulp of Hunteria umbellata, respectively. The anti-obesity and hyperlipidaemic activities of HU have been reported to be mediated via inhibitions of intestinal lipid absorption and de novo cholesterol and triglyceride syntheses (Adeneye et al, 2010)
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