The toxicosis of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, piroxicam, indomethacin, phenylbutazone, and aspirin, which

It is presumed that drugs sourced from herbs have lesser side effects than allopathic drugs. Enantia chlorantha is widely used in herbal medicine for the treatment of several ailments such as jaundice, malaria, fever, infective hepatitis, etc. However its toxicity profiles are not well documented. The effects of ethanolic extract of E. chlorantha stem bark on body weight changes, biochemical and haematological parameters as well as histology of vital organs (heart, kidneys and liver) were assessed. Also, the phytochemical constituent of the plant was analysed. Albino rats of both sexes were randomly divided into five groups (A–E) of five rats each and the ethanolic extract of E. chlorantha stem bark extract was administered by oral gavage in a single dose. Group A rats were administered 500 mg/kg of the extract, group B; 1000 mg/kg, group C; 2000 mg/kg, group D; 3000 mg/kg and group E rats received distilled water (10 ml/kg) and served as control. The extract caused significant (p<0.05) decreases in the levels of packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration and red blood cell counts in a dose dependent manner. Further, significant alterations were not observed in the serum biochemical parameters analysed (AST, ALP, ALT, blood urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, globulin and bilirubin). In addition, the extract at 1000, 2000 and 3000 mg/kg caused congestion in the heart and kidney of experimental rats. These results suggest that oral administration of E. chlorantha may produce severe toxic effects at relatively high doses, thus caution should be exercised in its use.

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Chromatographic fractions obtained from Phyllanthus amarus were tested for toxicity on the serum biochemistry of rats. The results revealed that some fractions of P. amarus had potentially deleterious effects on the blood and therefore caution should be exercised in the use of P. amarus as a medicinal plant.

The effects of the chromatographic fractions of Euphorbia hirta Linn on the serum biochemical parameters in rats were investigated. The ethanolic extract of this plant was subjected to chromatographic separation using the vacuum liquid chromatographic technique, a modified form of classical column chromatography. With the aid of thin layer chromatography, six fractions of this plant were obtained and were administered to rats in graded doses of 400mg/kg, 800mg/kg and 1600mg/kg orally for fourteen days. Some fractions of this plant caused significant increase in the levels of total protein, albumin, globulin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Some fractions also caused significant decrease in the level of conjugated bilirubin. The result from this study thus showed that some chromatographic fractions of Euphorbia hirta have potentially deleterious effects on the serum chemistry of rats; therefore caution should be exercised in the use of Euphorbia hirta as medicinal plant. It also means that the presence of this plant in the pasture could serve as a source of toxicosis to grazing animals.