Research Article | OPEN ACCESS
Acute and Subchronic Evaluation of Aqueous Extracts of Newbouldia laevis (Bignoniaceae) and Nauclea latifolia (Rubiaceae) Roots used Singly or in Combination in Nigerian Traditional Medicines
1S.O. Ogbonnia, 2G.O. Mbaka, 1F.E. Nkemehule, 3J.E. Emordi, 1N.C. Okpagu and 4D.A. Ota
1Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Idi-Araba, University of Lagos
2Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Lagos State University, Ikeja, Lagos
3Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Ambrose Alli University,
Ekpoma, Edo State
4Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria
British Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology 2014 1:55-62
Received: September 15, 2013 | Accepted: September 28, 2013 | Published: February 20, 2014
Abstract
This study was aimed at evaluating the acute and subchronc toxicities of aqueous extracts of Newbouldia laevis stem bark and Nauclea latifolia roots, used extensively, in Nigerian herbal medicine. Acute toxicity study was carried out on Swiss albino mice. The extracts mixed (1:1) in the doses ranging between 1.0 g to 20.0 g/kg body weight (bwt) were administered orally to the mice (22.5±2.5 g) and observed continuously for the first 4 h and hourly for the next 12 h, then 6 hourly for 56 h. In subchronic toxicity study, wistar rats (150±20 g) were fed with 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg bwt daily of the extract mixture (1:1) combination and 500 mg/kg bwt dose of the respective extracts for 30 days. The effects on the biochemical and haematological parameters were evaluated and also the effects on some vital organs were histologically examined. The results showed that all the animals that received 20 g/kg bwt of the extracts (1:1) combination survived beyond 24 h. Significant (p<0.05) decrease in the plasma glucose level occurred. Lipid profile study showed insignificant increase in total cholesterol (T Chol), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Triglycerides (TG) levels compared to the control while low density lipoprotein (LDL) level decreased appreciably. Aspartate Aminotransferases (AST), Alanine Aminotransferases (ALT) and creatinine levels decreased significant (p<0.05). The photomicrographs of hepatic, kidney and testicular tissues treated with 500 mg/kg bwt of the respective extracts and 500 mg/kg bwt of the combination indicated no abnormalities. The extracts could be considered safe at the doses administered since they did not provoke toxic effect on the key organs examined.
Keywords:
Acute, Newbouldia laevis, Nauclea latifolia, subchronic, toxicity,
Competing interests
The authors have no competing interests.
Open Access Policy
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Copyright
The authors have no competing interests.
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ISSN (Online): 2044-2467
ISSN (Print): 2044-2459 |
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