Acute And Subacute Toxicity Of Aqueous Extract Of Abrus Precatorius Seed In Wister Rats

Abstract

In this study, acute toxicity of aqueous extract of Abrus precatorius seed was carried out in mice and Wister rats by oral (p.o.) and intraperitoneal route (i.p.) while subacute toxicity was evaluated in Wister rats (i.p.). The LD 50 of the extract in mice was greater than 5000 mg/kg (p.o.) and 0.71 mg/kg (i.p.) while in rats it was 316.20 mg/kg (p.o.) and 0.35 mg/kg (i.p.). In subacute toxicity studies, the extract elicited a significant (p<0.05) decrease in body weight, red blood cell count, lymphocyte count, feed and water intake, and significant (p<0.05) increase in white blood cell count and eosinophil count. Biochemical investigation showed a significant (p<0.05) change in serum and liver cholesterol, alkaline phosphate, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and albumin. The study concluded that the aqueous extract of A. precatorius seed could possess moderate toxicity and adequate caution should be exercised in its use in ethnomedicine.