Ethnopharmacological relevance: Alibertia edulis, popularly known as "marmelo do Cerrado" is a native plant from the brazilian Cerrado. It has high food and ornamental potential and the tea leaves are currently used as hypoglycemic, antihypertensive and diuretic.
Aim of the study: In order to evaluate the safety of the aqueous extract of Alibertia edulis leaves (AEAE), the acute and subacute toxicity tests were performed in male and female Wistar albino rats.
Materials and methods: The experiments were performed in accordance with the OECD guidelines 425 and 407. For the acute toxicity, one single dose of the AEAE (2000mg/kg) was administered by gavage to five female rats. The animals were observed for 14 days for any signs of toxicity and death. In the subacute toxicity, four different doses (125, 250, 500 and 1000mg/kg) of the AEAE were administered to male and female rats for 28 consecutive days. A satellite group received the maximum dose (1000mg/kg) for 28 days and remained untreated for 14 more days in order to observe reversibility, persistence, or delayed occurrence of toxic effects. The five parameters of the Hippocratic screening, body weight, food and water intake were daily observed. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected for the hematological and biochemical analysis. The vital and reproductive organs were inspected for any histopathological changes.
Results: No deaths or behavioral changes were observed during both experiments as well as no changes on organ weights, biochemical, hematological and histopathological parameters that could indicate any signs of toxicity.
Conclusion: All doses tested can be considered safe in rats and the LD50 is higher than 2000mg/kg. Therefore, further assessments are required in order to proceed to clinical studies in humans.
Keywords: Medicinal plants; Preclinical trials; Secondary metabolites; Toxicology; marmelo do Cerrado.
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