Acute and Sub-Chronic Toxicity Effects of Methanol Extract of Pyrenacantha staudtii Hutch and Dale (Icacinaceae) in Wistar Rats

Abstract

Pyrenacantha staudtii has been used for its medicinal purposes especially in Africa and these supposed activities have been investigated scientifically, but the safety of this plant has not been established. Hence, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the acute and sub-chronic toxicity effects of methanol extract of Pyrenacantha staudtii Hutch & Dale (Icacinaceae) in Wistar Rats using appropriate standard procedures. The acute toxicity study shows that the plant is relatively safe with median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of 2,236 mg/kg. The sub-chronic toxicity study revealed no significant effect of the plant extract on biochemical and hematological parameters except for procalcitonin (PCT) and Platelet large cell ratios (P-LCR), which were significantly reduced compared to the control. Overall, the results from this study show that Pyrenacantha staudtii leaf extract is relatively safe when administered orally on acute or sub-chronic basis.