Research Article
Sub-Acute Toxicity Studies of Alchornea cordifolia Leaf Extract in Swiss Albino Rats
Ezeokeke EE, Ene AC* and Igwe CUDepartment of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
- *Corresponding Author:
- Ene AC
Department of Biochemistry
Federal University of Technology
Owerri, Nigeria
Tel: 23408038544994
E-mail: chineduene@gmail.com
Received date: January 27, 2017; Accepted date: March 04, 2017; Published date: March 10, 2017
Citation: Ezeokeke EE, Ene AC, Igwe CU (2017) Sub-Acute Toxicity Studies of Alchornea cordifolia Leaf Extract in Swiss Albino Rats. J Anal Bioanal Tech 8: 353. doi: 10.4172/2155-9872.1000353
Copyright: © 2017 Ezeokeke EE, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The ethanolic leaf extract of Alchornea cordifolia (Schum. and Thonn.) Müll. Arg (Euphorbiaceae), a widely used traditional medicinal plant was assessed for possible sub-acute toxicity in Swiss albino rats. The rats were randomly distributed into five groups of four animals each. The groups were respectively administered 125, 250, 500 and 750 mg/kg body weight ethanolic leaf extract of Alchornea cordifolia intra peritoneally daily for (two weeks) 14 days. Normal saline was administered to the control group according to their body weights. The experimental animals were observed for another 14 days before the termination of the experiment. The weight of the animals was recorded daily throughout the duration of the study. The number of deaths in any group was recorded. All the surviving animals were sacrificed after 28 days. Blood samples were collected for biochemical and haematological analysis. Selected organs of the animals i.e., liver and kidney of both the dead and sacrificed animals were removed and stored in 10% formal saline ready for histopathological analysis. Administration of Alchornea cordifolia (0.125- 0.75 g/kg, po daily) for two weeks (14 days) did not affect significantly the relative organ weights, blood and renal function. Histology of liver and kidney at dose levels up to 0.5 g/kg was normal and similarto vehicletreated controls. However, liver sections of mice treated with 0.75 g/kg Alchornea cordifolia ethanolic leaf extract showed cloudy swelling of hepatocytes with vascular degeneration. These results suggest that Alchornea cordifolia is relatively non-toxic but has the propensity to induce hepatic injury at high doses.
