Background: Eighty percent of Ethiopians use traditional medicine, one of which is the leaf of Lippea adoensis.
Objective: To investigate subacute toxicity of aqueous extracts of L. adoensis leaves on the liver and kidney and biochemical parameters in Swiss albino mice.
Methods: LD50 was assessed with nine experimental groups and one control group of adult female Swiss albino mice (five in each group). In the subacute study, 40 mice of both sexes were randomly divided into four groups of ten mice (both sexes) per group. Group I served as controls and received distilled water and feed only. Groups II-IV were used as treatment groups. They received calculated doses of aqueous leaf extracts orally at doses of 500 mg/kg, 1000 mg/kg, and 2000 mg/kg body weight, respectively.
Results: Since 80% of deaths occurred at the 10,000 mg/kg body-weight dose in this experiment, LD50 was considered to be <10,000 mg/kg. In the subacute test, general signs of toxicity like hypoactivity, piloerection, lethargy, and a single episode of convulsion were observed at the 2000 mg/kg dose. Beginning from the third week of administration, both male and female mice receiving 500 mg/kg and 2000 mg/kg and all treatment groups in the fourth week showed significant (P<0.05) weight loss compared to controls. Biochemical parameters were found to increase in all groups treated with ethanolic leaf extracts. Several histopathological changes like congestion, hemorrhage, severe necrosis, and infiltration of inflammatory cells in both liver and kidney in the L. adoensis-treated rats were observed at all doses.
Conclusion: In the present study, the ethanolic leaf extracts of L. adoensis produced dose-dependent weight loss and histopathological and biochemical changes in Swiss albino mice.
Keywords: Lippea adoensis; ethanolic extract; histopathology; subacute; toxicological.
© 2022 Boye et al.