Evaluation of Safety Profile of Costus Pictus D Don Methanolic Leaf Extract on Albino Wistar Rats

Abstract

With the emerging trend of preferring naturopathy over modern medicine, common people are in more danger when consuming natural plant products without the knowledge of the toxic agents present in them. Aim and Objective: To evaluate the safety of methanolic leaf extract of Costus pictus D Don on albino Wistar rats. Methodology: The current study was designed strictly based on the organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) guideline 423 for acute toxicity study to determine LD50 and guideline 407 for sub-acute toxicity study for hazard identification and risk assessment of the test solution. Methanolic leaf extract was prepared by soxhlation. 12 animals (each 12-week-old nulliparous, non-pregnant female Wistar rats with a mean weight of 142 ± 2 g), 3 per step were used for the acute toxicity study. The test was initiated with a single test dose of 300 mg/kg BW on three animals and continued till 2000 mg/kg BW. After ingesting the test dose each animal was observed individually for the first 4 hours and later every day for 2 weeks for signs of toxicity. For the sub-acute toxicity study, 30 adult Wistar rats (each 16-week-old rat weighing 250±12g) were randomized into 3 groups (1 control and 2 study groups) of 10 each consisting of five males and 5 females. Animals in the control group received 1% Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) at a dose of 10 ml/kg BW whereas the animals in the study group received 500 and 1000 mg/kg body weight (BW) of the extract respectively for 28 days. Later, all the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were studied for hematological and biochemical changes. Results: The lethal dose of Costus pictus D Don methanolic leaf extract was fixed as more than 2000 mg/kg Body weight. No obvious change was observed in feeding habits, weight, hematology, biochemical parameters, and histopathology. Conclusion: Methanolic leaf extract of Costus pictus D Don was observed to be absolutely safe when given orally in albino Wistar rats.