Antibacterial activities and toxicological study of the aqueous extract from leaves of Alchornea cordifolia (Euphorbiaceae)

Abstract

Background A. cordifolia is a plant widely used in Africa to solve many health problems. In Cameroon, it is used in the treatment of urogenital infections. As a continuation of our search for pharmacologically active agents from natural sources, the antimicrobial activity of A. cordifolia leaf extracts against E. coli and the toxicity of this extract were investigated.MethodsThe antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract from leaves of Alchornea cordifolia was carried out in vitro on Escherichia coli, as well as in vivo on E. coli-infected rat model. Phytochemical screening was performed using standard methods. The acute toxicity was investigated in mice, while at the end of treatment of infected rats, some biochemical, hematological and histological markers of toxicity were evaluated.ResultsThe extract exhibited a bacteriostatic activity with MIC value of 1500 μg/ml. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols, tannins, triterpens, flavonoids, alkaloids, anthraquinones, anthocyanins, saponins and coumarins in the extract. The acute toxicity study showed LD50 values of 8.6 g/kg and 3.8 g/kg in male and female mice respectively. In vivo, the oral administration of the extract showed a dose-dependent decrease of the bacterial load as the extract at 232, 112 and 58 g/kg were able to eradicate the infection after 9, 11 and 13 days of treatment. The infected rats showed a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the level of serum creatinine, ALAT, white blood cells, and a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the level of food and water intake, the relative weight of lungs, heart and spleen. In the treated rats, a significant (p < 0.05) increase in food and water intake and ALAT was observed at the doses of 116 and 232 mg/kg. A decrease in the red blood cells count and serum protein levels was also observed. These observations corroborate liver damages as revealed by the histopathological examination of the cross sections of this organ.ConclusionThe results of this assay thus showed that the extract of A. cordifolia is bacteriostatic, therapeutic at 58 g/kg bw and may be considered as slightly and almost non-toxic on females and males mice respectively.

In Vitro Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Alchornea Cordifolia (Schumach and Thonn.) Mull. Arg. And Antrocaryon Klaineanum Pierre Extracts

“…The extracts of Alchornea cordifolia are those containing all ten groups of secondary metabolites sought. This result is the same as those obtained by a large number of studies where Alchornea cordifolia, thanks to its wide range of active ingredients, would be used as a panacea in several African countries and for the treatment of diseases of different orders [41,35]. In contrast to this study, saponins and alkaloids are absent in the aqueous extract of Alchornea cordifolia [34].…”

Emodin Rescues Intrahepatic Cholestasis via Stimulating FXR/BSEP Pathway in Promoting the Canalicular Export of Accumulated Bile

“…In this experiment, we set three double ratio concentration 20 mg/kg, 40 mg/kg, and 80 mg/kg. The acute toxicity study for anthraquinones (emodin) showed LD 50 values of 8.6 g/kg and 3.8 g/kg in male and female mice, respectively (Djimeli et al, 2017), which is much higher than the three concentrations in our experiment.…”

Phytochemical screening and <i>in vivo</i> evaluation of antiulcer properties of secondary metabolites in aqueous extracts of <i>Ficus. thonningii</i> Blume tested on Wistar rats

“…Treatment of this disease requires in most cases a combination of several molecules with specific mechanisms of action. This treatment has 4 goals: relieve pain, accelerate healing, prevent complications and reduce the frequency of relapses (Brzozowski et al, 2002;Takezomo et al, 2004).The effective treatment using conventional medicines is not usually well attended by patients, due to their high cost and low availability to a large majority of the population, especially those living in rural areas (Awoussong et al, 2015;Djimeli et al, 2017. In many developing countries, the health infrastructure is poor and a large majority of the population, mainly rural, has no access to primary health care and modern medicines (Kumar et al, 2008;Fokunang et al, 2017a).…”