Phytochemical profiling of the bioactive principles of Alysicarpus glumaceus (Vahl) DC. aerial parts.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted by the bites of female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with Plasmodium falciparum (most fatal), P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi The disease primarily affects poor populations in tropical and subtropical areas where temperature and rainfall are suitable for the development of vectors and parasites. 1 Malaria due to P. falciparum is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in children under the age of five years, where a child dies every 30 seconds. 2 In 2016, Nigeria accounted for the highest proportion of malaria cases globally (27%), followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (10%), India (6%) and Mozambique (4%). 3 Herbal medicines have been used to treat malaria for thousands of years in various parts of the world. The first antimalarial drug, quinine, was extracted from the bark of Chincona plant (Rubiaceae). Infusions of the plant bark were used to treat human malaria as early as 1632. 4 Marrubium vulgare is a flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae) native to Europe, Northern Africa, and South Western and Central Asia. It is also widely naturalized in many places, including most of North and South America.

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Article history:The leaf and whole part of Scoparia dulcis L. have been used in the management of different disorders in Nigeria and other parts of the world without documented scientific evidences of its safety to man. Hence, the current study was performed to assess the acute and sub-chronic toxicity of the aqueous and methanol leaves extracts of Scoparia dulcis in Wistar rats. The acute toxicity was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, doses of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg body weight of the extracts were administered orally. In the second phase, 1600, 2900 and 5000 mg/kg body weight of the extracts were administered, signs and symptoms of toxicity were monitored for 24 hours. Sub-chronic toxicity studies were carried out on Wistar rats for both extracts; haematological, biochemical and histopathological analyses after 28 days oral administration of the extracts at 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg body weight were conducted. The acute toxicity of all extracts was found to be greater than 5000 mg/kg which is practically nontoxic according to standard scale of toxicity. In sub-chronic test, there was significant difference (p<0.05) in the Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) at 500 and 1000 mg/kg of aqueous extract and blood urea at 1000 mg/kg of methanol extract when compared to the control. The kidney and Liver of aqueous extract showed better physiological features when compared to that of the methanol extract. It could be concluded that prolonged oral administration of Scoparia dulcis leaf may be associated with increased risk of toxicity.

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