Toxicity Studies of Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth Leaf Extract in Rats

Abstract

Striga hermonthica is a ubiquitous hemi-parasitic plant commonly known as witch-weed and is used in West Africa as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of an array of diseases. In this study, methanol leaf extract of S. hermonthica was used to investigate the acute and sub-acute toxicity effects in male Wistar rats. In the acute toxicity studies, Wistar rats were divided into six groups comprising of negative control and extract treated groups (250, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 mg/kg of extract orally). The rats were observed for 72 hours while in the sub-acute oral toxicity studies, the rats were divided into 4 groups consisting of 5 rats per group. The extract was administered orally at doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg daily for 28 days to groups II, III and IV respectively while group I (negative control) received 2 ml of distilled water. The dose of 2000 mg/kg did not cause any mortality or signs of toxicity in the treated rats during the acute and subacute toxicity studies did not show any treatment-related abnormalities in the hematological (RBC, Hb, WBC, Lymphocytes) and biochemical (AST, ALT, ALP, TB, Glucose, HDL, LDL, Total protein, Albumin) parameters while the liver revealed lesions in the histopathology studies, there were no treatment-related lesions observed in the heart, lungs, pancreas and kidney whereas, the weight of rats did not show significant difference (p > 0.05) between the control and the treated groups. The study showed that S. hermonthica caused hepatotoxicity and could be potentially harmful for use. A more comprehensive research is recommended to investigate on its safe use and mode of action.