Acute and Subchronic Toxicity Studies of Roots Barks Extracts of Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br Used in the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease in Burkina Faso

Calotropis procera Ait. (Family Asclepiadaceae) is a species widely used for the treatment of various diseases including sickle cell disease in Burkina Faso. It enter in the composition of FACA, drug developed by Institute for Research in Health Sciences, Burkina Faso and used in the treatment of sickle cell disease. The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects at short and long term of Calotropis procera root barks in some rodents. In the acute test, the limit test dose of 2000 mg/kg of aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts were administered orally to NMRI mice and then observed individually 2 h post-dosing and at least once daily for 14 days. Sub-chronic toxicity was evaluated after a daily oral administration of 20 mg/kg body weight of aqueous extract for 3 and 6 weeks to Wistar rats. Biochemical and hematological assessments as well as body and relative organ weights of the rats were carried out. The limit dose of 2000 mg/kg did not cause any mortality or signs of acute toxicity in the mice tested during the observation period. In the sub-chronic tests, the results did not show any treatment–related abnormalities in terms of physiological, hematological parameters. However, on biochemical parameters, a slight but not significant (p˃0.05) elevation of ALT and AST were noticed in treated groups. Our results suggest that aqueous extract of Calotropis procera which contains many chemical compounds is relatively safe when administered orally and contribute to the safe use of this part of plant in pharmaceutical formulations.