Abstract
The use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is a common practice in developing countries. However, this unregulated or poorly rational use may present a dose-dependent risk of toxicity to humans. This study aimed to explore the phytochemical and toxicological characteristics of ten (10) plant species used in the traditional treatment of infectious diarrhea in Benin. The acute toxicity of aqueous and hydroethanolic extracts of Khaya senegalensis, Daniellia oliveri, Rauvolfia vomitoria, Vernonia amygdalina, Manihot esculenta, Ocimum gratissimum, Senna italica, Diospyros mespiliformis, Pterocarpus erinaceus, and Anacardium occidentale was evaluated following the OECD 423 protocol at a single dose of 2000 mg/kg. This safety test was complemented by a larval cytotoxicity test. Hematological and biochemical examinations, as well as a histological study of the liver and kidneys, were performed. Larval cytotoxicity was assessed by the sensitivity of Artemia salina larvae to different concentrations of the plant extracts studied. Testing for chemical compounds was performed on the basis of differential staining and precipitation reactions. The mean lethal concentration (LC50) was determined by the probit method. The qualitative phytochemical screening of the plants studied revealed the presence of catechic tannins, gallic tannins, flavonoids, anthocyanins and sterol-terpenes, alkaloids, saponosides, and reducing compounds. This composition varied according to the plants studied. Acute toxicity data indicated that there was no mortality and no structural and functional alterations of the liver and kidneys of treated animals. Larval cytotoxicity data suggest that the plants studied are not cytotoxic (LC50 ≥ 0.1 mg/mL). These observations reflect the safety of these plants and justify their use in traditional medicine in the treatment of many diseases including diarrheal diseases.
Highlights
Traditional medicine based on the use of medicinal plants is the first reflex of more than 80% of the world’s population for primary health care [1,2,3]
In developing countries such as Benin, this widely accepted trend is an ancestral medical practice that is transmitted from generation to generation [4, 5]. e real effectiveness, accessibility, and low cost of medicinal recipes are the main reasons for the perpetuation of this endogenous practice [6, 7]. e plants used in the African pharmacopeia are directed against several diseases, infectious ones. e prevalence of these infectious diseases is essentially linked to factors such as precarious water quality, unsanitary conditions, and poor food hygiene that are common to most developing countries [8, 9]
Benin is one of the developing countries in which diarrhea diseases are one of the main causes of morbidity [13, 14]. They have a direct impact on the costs associated with seeking health care, including several factors such as consultation, medication, and, in some cases, hospitalization which represents a burden on household expenditures [15]. e pathogens of diarrheal diseases are mainly bacteria [16]
Summary
Traditional medicine based on the use of medicinal plants is the first reflex of more than 80% of the world’s population for primary health care [1,2,3]. Benin is one of the developing countries in which diarrhea diseases are one of the main causes of morbidity [13, 14] They have a direct impact on the costs associated with seeking health care, including several factors such as consultation, medication, and, in some cases, hospitalization which represents a burden on household expenditures [15]. Despite the widespread use of traditional herbal remedies in the treatment of diarrheal diseases, very few scientific studies exist at this stage on the safety of antidiarrheal plants. It is, important, if not essential, to explore the toxicological characteristics of the main plants used by local communities in several African pharmacopeias in order to secure their use in traditional medicine. Rats are recommended lower-level animals for toxicity studies to extrapolate to human biology according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) safety study guidelines [27, 28]. e finding of the study could help to guide the optimization and validation of the traditional use of these antidiarrheal plants
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