Hepatotoxic Effect of Lafoensia pacari A. St. Hil. (Lythraceae) on a Diet-Induced Obese Mice Model

Abstract

Background: Brazilian flora is rich in plants with medicinal properties, which though popular, has contributed to the development of a range of homeopathic products that use plants to treat and cure diseases. However, studies that use Brazilian plants in the treatment of metabolic disorders are still scarce in the literature. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of hepatotoxicity Lafoensia pacari on the metabolism of mice with obesity induced by a high-fat diet and to verify the phytochemical difference between the Lafoensia pacari bark of the trunk, leaves, and branches. Methods: The plant material was collected from April to May in the municipality of Bonito de Minas, MG, Brazil. Qualitative tests for the presence of classes of secondary metabolites were performed for leaves, branches and bark of the trunk. Through histological analysis, we evaluated hepatocytes and cell lesions in the liver. Results: The comparative phytochemical analysis of the plant did not reveal alterations between the different plant parts. The phytochemical teste showed that is preferable to use the leaves to make the extract to be applied, aiming to reduce the plant aggression. After treatment, greater changes were observed in the animals that received the high-fat diet and the hydroethanolic extract; the levels of AST, ALT, albumin and creatinine that were increased, thus demonstrating a possible toxicity. There were no significant differences in body weight. In the histological analysis, the animals that received any treatments with the plant, displayed decreased liver weight and reduction in the inflammatory infiltrate. Conclusion: We conclude that Lafoensia pacari should be better evaluated for oral consumption and may cause liver damage.

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“…The control group animals were fed with a diet that presented an energetic value of 2.18 Kcal per 1 g of diet, containing the following components: 50.30% carbohydrate, 41.90% protein, and 7.80% fat (Labina, Purina, St. Louis, MO, USA) [25]. The high-fat diet was composed of 24.55% of carbohydrates, 14.47% of proteins, and 60.98% of fats, presenting a total of 5.28 kcal per 1 g of diet [26]. All the high-fat diet components were purchased from Rhoster LTDA (São Paulo, Brazil).…”

“…The mice were individually housed and the food intake was measured twice per week during treatment to determine food efficiency (food intake/body weight). Overnight-fasted mice were sacrificed with ketamine (130 mg/kg) and xylazine (0.3 mg/kg) after anesthesia [25,26]; sample tissues were collected, weighted, and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80 °C for posterior analysis.…”