Toxicological Safety Evaluation of Ethanol Extract of Artocarpus altilis Leaves in Wistar Rats (Rattus norvegicus) doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v5i11.7

Abstract

Safety testing of toxicological properties of a drug could be obtained from preclinical trials using test animals as models designed for a series of toxicity tests. This study was aimed at evaluating the acute toxicity of the ethanol extract of Artocarpus altilis leaves in rats. Ethanol extract was prepared from the leaves of A. altilis. Twenty rats were randomly  divided into four groups of five rats per group: one control group and three treatment groups that were given oral administration of 500, 2,000, and 5,000 mg/kg body weight (BW), respectively of ethanol leaf extract of A. altilis. The animals’ general toxicological behavior and mortality were observed every 24 hours. The rats were sacrificed on the 15th day and the body weight, relative organ weight, biochemical parameters, and histopathology of the vital organs were analyzed. The results indicated that the extract did not affect the body and relative organ weights of the  rats. Conversely, the biochemical parameters showed that alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and creatinine increased in the 5,000 mg/kg treatment group. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in aspartate transaminase (AST) and urea. In addition, the lethal dose (LD50) of the extract was higher than 5,000 mg/kg BW. There was no evidence of toxicity in the rats after acute exposure to the ethanol extract of A. altilis leaves. The findings of this study reveal that oral administration of the ethanol extract of A. altilis leaves is considered safe and is not associated with any distinct toxicity or side effects.