SAFETY EVALUATION OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF VERNONIA CINEREA L. IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS
Krishna Teja Pharmacy College, Chadalawada Nagar, Tirupati-517605, Andhra Pradesh, India
P. Jayachandra Reddy
Krishna Teja Pharmacy College, Chadalawada Nagar, Tirupati-517605, Andhra Pradesh, India
V. Prabhakaran
Krishna Teja Pharmacy College, Chadalawada Nagar, Tirupati-517605, Andhra Pradesh, India
The plants of the genus Vernonia (Asteraceae) are widely distributed in most tropical and subtropical countries, and have long been used in traditional medicine to treat various types of diseases. In recent years, the interest in the plant-based medicine has increased noticeably worldwide. One of such plants belonging to genus Vernonia and known to have healing potential is Vernonia cinerea L. Less (Asteraceae). V. cinerea have many therapeutic uses in the practice of traditional medicine. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the safety of ethanol extract of Vernonia cinerea L. (EVC) whole plant by determining its potential toxicity after acute and chronic administration in rats. Study on acute toxicity of extract found to be safe at the doses 2000mg/kg body weight orally as per OECD guidelines No.423. General behavior adverse effects and mortality were determined for up to 14 days. In the chronic toxicity study, the EVC was administered orally at doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg once in a week for 6 weeks to rats. Biochemical and hematological parameters were determined after 6 weeks. In the acute study in rats, there was no toxicity/ death was observed at the dose of 2000mg/kg b.w. The onset of toxicity and signs of toxicity also not there. In the chronic toxicity study, no significant treatment-related changes in the levels of haematological, hepatic and renal parameters such as SGOT, SGPT, cholesterol, creatinine, urea, uric acid, protein and glucose, and serum ALP activities were observed at the termination of the study. It suggests that the ethanol extract of Vernonia cinerea L. does not appear to have significant toxicity. In view of the dose of Vernonia cinerea L. consumed in traditional medicine, there is a wide margin of safety for the therapeutic use of the ethanol extract of Vernonia cinerea L. whole plant
2 , 1 , 2012
34 - 38
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