Toxicological studies of the stem bark extract of Khaya grandifoliola in rats.

Khaya grandifoliola (Welw) CDC (Meliaceae) is a tropical medicinal plant widely used in Africa for the management of malaria. In this study, toxicological evaluation of the aqueous extract of the stem bark of the plant has been evaluated with a view to ascertaining some of its possible toxic effects in the rats. Healthy rats of both sexes weighing between 62 g - 69 g body weight were used for this study. A group of rats were administered with graded doses (100, 200 and 500 mg/kg body weight, o.p) of the extract daily for 21 days. At the end of the 7 days, 21 days treatment periods and 21 days post-treatment (Recovery) period, the different groups of animals were sacrificed and assessed for tissue damage by measuring the plasma, liver, heart and spleen activities of alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP). The liver, kidney, heart and spleen were also subjected to histopathological assessment. The result showed that following 1 week of administration of the extract that there was significant (p of activity in the plasma. This indicates that K. grandifoliola extract could be toxic when administered chronically at high doses. Keywords: ALP, AST, ALT, Heart, Histology, Kidney, Liver, Spleen.