Supaporn Prasettho, Somsmorn Chittrakarn, and Uraporn Vongvatcharanon

pp. 515 - 524

Abstract

Pisonia alba Span. is a small tree with single oval leaves and belongs to the Nyctaginaceae family.
Subacute toxicity of the crude extract of this plant was investigated. Doses of 0.5, 1 and 2 g/kg of the crude
extract were tested in rats via oral feeding administration in a once daily regimen for 45 days. The average
body weight of those rats receiving the crude extract was not significantly elevated in comparison with that
of the control group. Moreover, the observed behavior of those rats was not different from that of the control
group. Histopathological study of the rat liver, however, showed that the average density of necrotic hepatocytes in the treated group was 1.63±0.47 and 1.21±0.33 cell/mm² with the doses of 1 and 2 g/kg of the crude
extract, respectively. These values were significantly lower than those of the control group (2.04±0.68 cell/
mm²) (p<0.05). A histopathological study of the heart of rats receiving the crude extract of P. alba at doses of
0.5, 1 and 2 g/kg showed that, at all doses, the volume of wall of each chamber was not significantly different
from that of the control group. In addition, it did not cause cardiomyocyte injury. The results obtained
suggest that the crude extract of P. alba leaves at the dose up to 2 g/kg has no toxic effect on the liver and
heart of rats.