Toxicological assessment of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of clerodendrum capitatum in wistar rats

Abstract

IntroductionClerodendrum capitatum (Willd) Schumach. & Thonn (Lamiaceae) is used in African traditional medicine for the treatment of malaria, hypertension, obesity, jaundice and diabetes however there is lack of experimental data on its possible toxicity. This study investigated the acute and 28 days sub-chronic toxicity of C. capitatum in Wistar rats.MethodsIn acute toxicity tests, a single administration of the hydroethanolic C. capitatum leaf extract (5 g/kg) was given orally to 5 female rats. The general behavior, adverse effects and mortality were recorded for up to 14 days post treatment. On the 15th day, the rats were weighed and euthanized for necropsy. In sub-chronic toxicity tests, the extract (4, 8 and 16 g/kg/day) was given orally to both male and female rats for 28 days. The animal body weight was recorded throughout the experiment, while hematological and biochemical parameters of blood and relative organs weights were evaluated on the 29th day.ResultsClerodendrum Capitatum did not cause any death or any hazardous symptoms of acute toxicity, showing an LD50 higher than 5 g/kg. Sub-chronic administration of C. capitatum resulted in no noticeable changes in weight gain and water or food consumption. White blood cells and hemoglobin increased while urea concentration, liver enzymes, total cholesterol and glucose concentrations significantly decreased in treated animals. No changes in macroscopical aspect of organs were observed in the animals.ConclusionThese results showed that acute or sub-chronic oral administration of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of Clerodendrum capitatum may be considered as relatively free of toxicity.

Acute and sub-chronic oral toxicity studies of the leaves aqueous extract of Clerodendrum umbellatum Poir. on mice

“…Our results demonstrated that repeated administration of CuAE did not induce significant side effects on the weight of vital organs. Our results are in accordance with those of many authors who found that the chronic administration of C. infortunatum leaves methanolic extract as well as C. capitatum did not affect the weight of vital organs [14,16].…”

“…Organ-to-body weight is an important index to diagnose whether an organ has been exposed to injury. Hence, if mice are exposed to toxic substances, the weight of the damaged organ will either increase or decrease as will the organto-body weight ratio [16,20]. Our results demonstrated that repeated administration of CuAE did not induce significant side effects on the weight of vital organs.…”

“…This resulted in classifying CuAE in the category five of relatively non-toxic substances according to the GHS for the classification of chemicals [9]. A comparison between the oral LD 50 of CuAE and that of others species of Clerodendrum as C. infortunatum leaves methanolic extract (>2,000 mg/kg) [14], C. inerme leaves ethyl acetate, chloroform, ethanolic, and aqueous extracts (>3,000 mg/kg) [15], C. capitatum leaves hydroethanolic extract (>5,000 mg/kg) [16], and C. infortunatum leaves and roots alcoholic extracts (>3,000 mg/kg) [17] demonstrated that some species of this genus are relatively non-toxic and safe, and are therefore classified in category five according to the GHS. However, the oral LD 50 of CuAE was greater than the LD 50 of C. myricoides root aqueous extract (1,134 mg/kg), which belongs to category four of low toxic substances [18].…”

“…An increase in the level of ALT and AST in the serum indicates the altered integrity of cell membrane as well as cell lysis or death. This results in their secretion into the bloodstream [16,23]. The increase of ALT and AST activities in the serum of male mice after administration of CuAE at 400 or 800 mg/kg indicates liver tissue damage.…”

Reporting the toxicological profile of methanolic leaf extract of <i>Anthocleista vogelii</i> Planch on Wistar rats

“…The universal distribution of AST in the cytoplasmic pool of tissues like liver, kidney, heart, muscles, spleen and others with much amount in their mitochondria gave a disparity in relation to ALT, whose activity is strictly localized in the cytoplasm of hepatocyte (Abel and Banjo, 2012;Akhigbe, 2014;Magnifouet et al, 2011;Mezui et al, 2015;York, 2017). This resulted in the application of ALT activity as a definite biomarker for hepatocellular injury while AST activity may not be adequate as a lone biomarker for hepatocellular injury, except employed together (Idoh et al, 2016;Ogbe et al, 2012;York, 2017). Again, ALP activity, which is primarily localized in membranes of osteoblastic cells of bones, mammary gland, placental, intestinal mucosa, renal proximal tubules and hepatocytes, where it functions in the alkaline hydrolysis of organophosphates to maintain biological membrane integrity.…”