Acute toxicity and anti-inflammatory properties of Fadogia agrestis Schweinf. ex Hiern (Rubiaceae) extract in mice and rats

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Résumé

Objective: Plants are widely used in alternative medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties of the hydroalcoholic extract of Fadogia agrestis leaves. Methodology: The acute toxicity study was performed by oral administration of Fadogia agrestis hydroalcoholic extract at a single dose of 2000 mg/kg in NMRI mice. Then, the anti-inflammatory activity of Fadogia agrestis extract was studied on several models of acute and subacute inflammation in mice. The effects of the extract atdifferent concentrations (100, 200, and 300 mg/kg), administered orally, were compared to the effects of 1% carrageenan, 1% histamine, 1% serotonin, and 2% formalin injected into the plantar surface of the hind paw. Results: The hydroalcoholic extract of Fadogia agrestis leaves at the dose of 2000 mg/kg did not cause the death of mice. The results also indicate that hydroalcoholic extract of Fadogia agrestis leaves strongly inhibited (p<0.01) carrageenan-induced edema formation at the fifth hour of inflammation. These maximum inhibitions were 47.45%, 50.87%, and 47.03% for extract doses of 300, 200, and 100 mg/kg, respectively. The hydroalcoholic extract of Fadogia agrestis leaves also inhibited formalin-induced edema formation. The inhibitions were highly significant (p<0.01) on the first day of induction. In addition, in rats treated with the extract at all doses, a highly significant (p<0.01) decrease in leukocyte count was observed compared to the control. Conclusion: The results of the present study show that the hydroalcoholic extract of the leaves of Fadogia agrestis administered orally possesses an anti-inflammatory activity without toxic effects.

Mots-clés

Fadogia agrestis, Acute toxicity, Anti-inflammatory, Edema, Rats, Mice