A botanical from the antiproliferative Cameroonian spice, Imperata cylindrica is safe at lower doses, as demonstrated by oral acute and sub-chronic toxicity screenings

Abstract

Background The cytotoxicity of the root’s methanol extract of Imperata cylindrica (ICR). was previously reported in a panel of human cancer cell lines, including multi-drug resistant phenotypes. The aim of this study was to assess the acute and sub-chronic oral toxicity of methanol root extract of Imperata cylindrica. Methods The acute toxicity was carried out according to the experimental protocol of OECD. The plant extract was administered orally to female rats at a single dose of 5000 mg/kg for 14 days and the animals were observed for any behavioral changes or mortality. For sub-chronic toxicity study, ICR was orally administered daily to male and female rats at different doses (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg per b.w.) for 30 days. During these treatment days the animals were observed for any appearance of toxicity symptoms; following the treatment period, animals were sacrificed for hematological, biochemical and histopathology analysis. Results From the results of the acute oral toxicity assay, ICR was found to be non-toxic at the dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. During the period of sub-chronic toxicity test, observation of signs, behavior and health status of the animals showed no abnormality in the groups of animals treated with ICR as compared to the controls. Significant variation of the relative body weights of heart and kidney were observed at dose a 1000 mg/kg b.w. Significant decrease of aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine level, low density lipoprotein concentration, triglyceride and total cholesterol were observed. In males, we noticed a significant decrease of the level of granulocytes with an increase of lymphocytes and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration levels. Histological examinations performed on kidney and liver showed a normal kidney architecture and liver also presented a normal hepatic architecture with slight degeneration at a dose 1000 mg/kg b.w. Conclusion ICR is safe for acute oral administration; however, for long-term oral administration, safety measures should be taken. Thus, oral sub-chronic exposure of ICR at lower doses are recommended while higher doses around 1000 mg/kg b.w. should be discouraged.

Potent Cytotoxicity of Four Cameroonian Plant Extracts on Different Cancer Cell Lines

“…These findings were in agreement with a recent study that was performed to assess the in vivo toxicological effect of the IC crude extract [30]. This study revealed the safety of crude methanol extract of IC at low doses on animal models, while prolonged use was suggested to be discouraged at high doses.…”

CD24 gene inhibition and TIMP-4 gene upregulation by Imperata cylindrica's root extract prevents metastasis of CaSki cells via inhibiting PI3K/Akt/snail signaling pathway and blocking EMT

“…cylindrica root extract which showed that the latter is safe for long-term administration at 500 mg. Kg -1 body weight (bw) (Nayim et al, 2020). Tumor volumes were measured with a digital calliper and calculated using the formula: 1/2 (Length × Width 2 ), where width represents the shortest dimension of the tumor.…”

In Vitro Anticancer Activity of Imperata cylindrica Root’s Extract toward Human Cervical Cancer and Identification of Potential Bioactive Compounds

“…Results displayed by Figure 1 and Table 1 show higher cytotoxicity of IC-MeOH toward nontumor cells than cancer cells that could represent adverse effects. Nonetheless, our previous investigations on IC-MeOH regarding its toxicity in vivo revealed nontoxic effects for acute and repeated administration [ 40 ]. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is highlighting for the first time the antiproliferative mode of action of IC-MeOH toward human cervical cancer cells.…”