Acute and subacute toxicity study of the ethanol crude extract of Leptadenia hastata plant (Pers.) Decne. in Wistar rats

Abstract

Background: From a long time in history medicinal plants have been used traditionally for the treatment of many diseases. The plant Leptadenia hastata (Pers.) Decne of the family Asclepiadaceae has been used in the management of many ailments.

Objective: This experimental research was designed to evaluate the toxicity profile of the ethanol whole plant extract of Leptadenia hastata in Wistar rats.

Material and Methods: Five groups of rats were used for the toxicity study in which group 1 was used as control while Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were administered 200, 400, 800 and 1600 mg/kg of the extract. Subacute toxicity study was carried out for 30 days by oral administration of the different doses of the extract and blood samples were taken for biochemical and haematological investigation. Histopathological study was also conducted on pancreas, liver, kidney and heart.

Results: The LD₅₀ for acute toxicity study of the extract was found to be greater than 5000 mg/kg indicating relative safety. From the subacute study, there were no significant changes in the levels of the biochemical and haematological parameters when compared with the control group except for AST, ALP, HCO₃⁺, MCV, platelets and platelet width distribution. Likewise, the morphological and histological investigations showed that the colour and architecture of the harvested organs were preserved with no signs of inflammation or distortions in their appearances when compared with the control.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the extract of Leptadenia hastata was found to be relatively safe.

Keywords: Leptadenia hastata, Acute and Sub-acute toxicity