Safety assessment of aqueous acetone extract of Clerodendrum infortunatum L. in Wistar rats

Clerodendrum infortunatum L. is a traditional medicinal plant used for the treatment of bronchitis, malarial fever, benign tumour etc. Antioxidant screening revealed that the aqueous acetone extract exhibited the greatest antioxidant activity. In the present study, toxicity analysis of the aqueous acetone extract was carried out in male Wistar rats to evaluate its impact on the liver and serum biochemical parameters. Male Wistar rats were divided into six groups and groups II to VI were treated with a single dose of 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg body weight of aqueous acetone extract and silymarin, respectively. Group I served as the normal control. The rats were observed for 14 days. At the end, the blood was collected for the estimation of aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, gamma glutamate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, direct and total bilirubin, albumin, globulin, A/G ratio and total protein. Antioxidant parameters such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation and histopathological examination were carried out in liver tissue. All the biochemical parameters were found to be normal. Results suggest that the administration of aqueous acetone extract of C. infortunatum was safe and can be used as a new source of drug for the modern pharmaceutics.