Acute and Sub-Acute Toxicity Studies of Plumeria alba Linn. (Apocynaceae) Hydroalcoholic Extract in Rat

Plumeria alba Linn (Apocynaceae) is used in Togolese traditional medicine to treat diabetes mellitus and wounds. The present investigation was carried out to evaluate the toxicity of hydroalcoholic extract of Plumeria alba roots in Sprague Dawley rats. The acute toxicity test was conducted by administering orally dose of 5 g/Kg. General behavior and mortality were examined for up to 14 days. The sub-acute toxicity test was performed by daily gavage at 250, 500 and 1000 mg/Kg for 28 days. Body weight and blood glucose were measured weekly. Hematological and biochemical parameters, relative organ weight were determined at the end of the 28 days administration. In acute study, no adverse effect of the extract was observed at 5.0 g/Kg. Sub-acute oral administration of the extract at the dose up to 1000 mg/Kg did not induce death or significant changes in body weight, relative weight of vital organs, hematological parameters and was not associated with liver and kidney toxicity.