Safety assessment of Lepisanthes fruticosa extract in experimental rats

Abstract

The toxicity study of Lepisanthes fruticosa (ceri Terengganu) was carried out using a repeated dose 28-days oral toxicity method on female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. About twenty-four female SD rats with an average body weight of 116.27±11.95 g were divided into four groups. The control group (C) was given a ground normal pellet while treatment groups were given L. fruticosa extract incorporated with ground pellet with different dosages (low dose 0.5 g/kg (CEL), medium dose 1.0 g/kg (CEM) and high dose 3.0 g/kg (CEH)). Each rat was given a 25 g pellet per day. Upon arrival, all rats were placed in individual cages and given drinking water via ad-libitium. Rats were acclimatized for seven days before treatment started. On day 29, after 12-15 hrs of fasting, rats were euthanized using CO2 and blood samples were taken from the vena cava for further blood and serum analysis. After 28 days of treatment, the body weight of rats in all treated groups was increased with no significant difference. Administration of L. fruticosa extract did not cause any negative effect on blood haematology. Findings from the serum biochemical test showed that the consumption of the extract did not result in liver and kidney failure since no significant changes were observed in enzymatic and blood parameters. Based on these findings, the L. fruticosa extract was safe to be taken even at a high dose (3.0 g/kg) as no experiment-related mortality and no toxicity symptom occurred on the experimental animal.