Plant products are widely used for health and disease management. However, besides their therapeutic effects, some plants also have potential toxic activity. Calotropis procera is a well-known laticifer plant having pharmacologically active proteins playing a therapeutically significant role in curing diseases like inflammatory disorders, respiratory diseases, infectious diseases, and cancers. The present study was aimed to investigate the antiviral activity and toxicity profile of the soluble laticifer proteins (SLPs) obtained from C. procera. Different doses of rubber free latex (RFL) and soluble laticifer protein (ranging from 0.019 to 10 mg/mL) were tested. RFL and SLPs were found to be active in a dose-dependent manner against NDV (Newcastle disease virus) in chicken embryos. Embryotoxicity, cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and mutagenicity of RFL and SLP were examined on chicken embryos, BHK-21 cell lines, human lymphocytes, and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. It was revealed that RFL and SLP possess embryotoxic, cytotoxic, genotoxic, and mutagenic activity at higher doses (i.e., 1.25–10 mg/mL), while low doses were found to be safe. It was also observed that SLP showed a rather safer profile as compared to RFL. This might be due to the filtration of some small molecular weight compounds at the time of purification of SLPs through a dialyzing membrane. We suggest that SLPs could be used therapeutically against viral disorders but the dose should be critically monitored.

No abstract