Acute and subchronic toxicity assessments of hydro alcoholic extract of roots of <em>Anogeissus leiocarpus</em> (combretaceae)

Genus of the family of Combretacae, Anogeissus leiocarpus is a tropical plant widely used to treat many diseases in traditional medicines. This study was investigated to assess the acute and subchronic toxicity of the hydro alcoholic extract of roots of Anogeissus leiocarpus. In the acute test, the limit test dose of 5000 mg.kg−1 was administered orally to three Sprague Dawley female rats and then observed individually 1 h post-dosing, and at least twice daily for 14 days. The subchronic toxicity study was conducted by daily oral administration at doses of 500 and 1000 mg.kg−1 to both sexes of rats during 28 days. At the end of experimentation, general clinical signs, mortality, haematological, biochemical and histopathological assessments were carried out. The limit dose of 5000 mg.kg−1 did not cause any mortality in the rats tested during the observation period. This suggests that the median Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) is higher than 5000 mg.kg−1 by oral administration in rats. In subchronic toxicity study, no abnormalities in body weight, food consumption, clinical signs, serum biochemistry, electrolytes, hematology, organ weights, and in histopathological examination were revealed in both sexes of rats treated with roots of Anogeissus leiocarpus at the doses of 500 and 1000 mg.kg−1. Based on these results, we concluded that roots of Anogeissus leiocarpus are safe to be used as a medicinal plant.