Acute and 28-Day Repeated-Dose Oral Toxicity Assessment of Abelmoschus moschatus Medik. in Healthy Wistar Rats

Acute Toxicity and Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Kyllinga polyphylla Willd. ex Kunth, Cyperaceae Family

Kyllinga polyphylla Willd. ex Kunth. (KP) is a wild herb commonly distributed in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This study was carried out to evaluate the antibacterial and antioxidant activities and acute toxicity of KP before conducting studies at the in vivo level. All parts of KP had the free radical scavenging capacity of DPPH, in which the root methanol extract had the best antioxidant capacity (EC50 = 9.54 ± 0.37 μg/mL). Most of the extracts had a wide range of antibacterial spectra. The methanol and ethanol extracts (200 mg/mL) have ability to resist eight common bacterial strains (including Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria innocua, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterococcus faecalis), which is equivalent to the antibacterial activity of amoxicillin and tetracycline at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. KP extracts did not cause death at a dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight and did not significantly change the biochemical, hematological, as well as histological structures of internal organs in toxicity-tested mice in comparison with the control. The research results showed that KP should be more interested in research that supports disease treatment, synthetic extraction of antibiotics, or other in vivo studies.

Effects of Acute and Repeated Dose Toxicity Profiling of Chelidonic Acid in Rats: in Silico and in Vivo Evidence

Chelidonic acid is a phytoconstituent found in rhizomes of the perennial plant celandine. The current study aims to evaluate the acute and repeated dose oral toxicity study of chelidonic acid as per the OECD guidelines 425 and 407. The pharmacokinetic and toxicity profile of chelidonic acid was predicted using online servers and tools. A single dose of chelidonic acid (2000 mg/kg) was administered to female Wistar rats in an acute toxicity study, and the animals were monitored for 14 days. We studied the toxicity profile of chelidonic acid at 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg doses in Wistar rats for repeated dose toxicity (28 days). Clinical biochemistry, haematological, and urine parameters were estimated. A gross necropsy and histopathology were performed. A single oral dose of chelidonic acid (2000 mg/kg) showed no signs of toxicity or mortality. The Administration of chelidonic acid showed no significant alterations in haematological, biochemical, and urine parameters. The histopathology showed normal structure and architecture in all the vital organs. A gross necropsy of vital organs showed no signs of toxicity. The chelidonic acid was found to be safe at all selected dose levels in the acute and repeated dose toxicity study in rats.

Asparagus falcatus L. (Asparagaceae) leaf extracts attenuate doxorubicin-induced renal toxicity via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic pathways

The search for therapeutic agents that improve kidney function against doxorubicin-induced renal toxicity is important. Herein, the potential nephroprotective activity by Asparagus falcatus L. (AF, Asparagaceae) leaf extracts against doxorubicin-induced renal toxicity (5 mg/kg, ip) in Wistar rats (n = 6/group) after oral administration of hexane (55 mg/kg), ethyl acetate (35 mg/kg), butanol (75 mg/kg), and aqueous (200 mg/kg) extracts of AF for 28 consecutive days was investigated. It was noticed that the treatment with the selected extracts of AF significantly attenuated doxorubicin-induced elevations of serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, β₂-microglobulin, cystatin C, and proteinuria in experimental rats. The histology showed attenuation of the features of acute tubular injury. Treatment regimens significantly reversed the doxorubicin-induced reduction in total antioxidant status, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase activity in renal tissue homogenates. A suppression in lipid peroxidation was noted with hexane, ethyl acetate, and butanol extracts of AF. Moreover, a reduction in the concentration of the pro-inflammatory mediator TNF-α (p < 0.05), and immunohistochemical expression of COX-2 were observed. The immunohistochemical expression of pro-apoptotic Bax protein was decreased and the anti-apoptotic BCL-2 was increased in renal tissues following the treatments. In conclusion, it was revealed that, hexane, ethyl acetate, butanol, and aqueous extracts of AF attenuate doxorubicin-induced renal toxicity in Wistar rats through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic pathways. The plant, AF could be recommended as a promising therapeutic agent to minimize renal toxicity induced by doxorubicin in cancer patients, however, subsequent clinical trials are warranted.

Ovarian toxicity of plant-derived edible oils: a 28 days hormonal and histopathological study in Wistar rat

Initial evidence on the endocrine-disrupting effects of genetically modified (GM) food motivated us to evaluate the reproductive toxicity of GM and non-GM plant-derived edible oils in female Wistar rats. Sunflower (non-GM), maize (GM), and canola (GM) oils as popular resource dietary oils were purchased from the local market. After tracking the target sequence of CaMV 35S and Nos terminator in all selected batch numbers of edible oils by real-time PCR, oil samples were daily gavaged to 10 weeks Wistar rats for 28 days. Clinical factors, serum lipid levels, sex hormones, and gonadotropins as well as the histopathological changes were compared among groups by statistical analysis. Besides normal lipid profile, gonadotropin levels, and LH/FSH ratio at day 28, serum estradiol levels were raised in both GM (canola oil (p=0.04)) and non-GM (sunflower oil (p=0.008)) groups. In necropsy studies, ovarian atrophies were detected in canola (p<0.001) and sunflower groups (p<0.043) although uterine remained unchanged in all groups. In histopathological evaluations, all sections showed severe congestion and multiple follicular cysts in the sunflower oil group. Simple and secondary cysts in the maize group were the other type of ovarian toxicity in this short period of time. Remarkable estrogenic properties of GM and non-GM plant-derived edible oils with signs of ovarian atrophy, congestion, and cysts may contribute to phthalate or other xenoestrogenic contaminations; therefore, analytical studies of samples and further human populations studies are highly recommended.