Sub-acute oral toxicity study of methanol leaves extract of Catharanthus roseus in rats

Objective: To examine the sub-acute (14 d) oral toxic effects of methanol leaves extract of Catharanthus roseus (C. roseus) (Family: Apocynaceae) on liver and kidney functions in Sprague Dawley (SD) rats. Methods: Twenty four female SD rats were used throughout the experiment. The first group was orally treated with distilled water and served as control, whereas the remaining three groups were orally treated with single dose daily of 0.1 g/kg, 0.5 g/kg, 1 g/kg of C. roseus extract, respectively for 14 d. Cage-side observations were done daily. Any animal died during the experiment was dissected for gross organ examination. Body weight changed, food consumption and water intake were recorded weekly. Blood was collected via cardiac puncture on day-15 and used for determination of serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine and urea. The relative organ weights were also measured. All results were expressed as mean +/- S.E.M and analysed using Dunnett's test. The level of significance was set at P<0.05 when compared to the control group. Results: Repeated oral administration of 0.5 g/kg and 1 g/kg of methanol leaves extract of C. roseus caused mortality and diarrhoea in rats after few days of treatment. There were no significant changes observed in serum biochemical markers, body weight changed, water and food intake and relative organ weight in rats treated with a single dose daily of 0.1 g/kg of C. roseus extract treatment for 14 d when compared to control group. Conclusionds: Fourteen days repeated oral administration of 0.1 g/kg of methanol leaves extract of C. roseus was safe in female SD rats without causing any significant damages to liver and kidney.