The In-Vivo Assessment of the Effect of Traditionally Used Asparagus laricinus Extracts for Anticancer on the Kidney, Liver, and Spleen of Rats

Abstract

Introduction: The plants has been a fertile source of revealing novel molecules discovered by sophisticated techniques for drug discovery. The present research was triggered by the increase in the use of Asparagus laricinus as home remedy, with a lot of studies done invitro on the plant evaluating possible toxic effects of the dried roots extracts using Sprague Dawley rats as animal models was needed. The objectives of the study was to investigate deviations effects in haematology and histology parameters, on the liver, kidneys and spleen tissues of animals exposed to aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Asparagus laricinus roots. Methods: Interfaculty Animal Ethics Committee approval was obtained from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Free State. All experimental work was performed in Animal Research Unit at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. The supernatant of dried plants was filtered, and the ethanol removed completely under vacuum. The aqueous sample was lyophilized to obtain dried powdered material. The powdered plant material was dissolved in distilled water to prepare 2%, 10% and 20% concentration. 54 Sprague Dawley rats (180g and 250g), both male and female, were divided into two groups of 24 and 30 rats for aqueous and ethanolic extracts respectively. The aqueous group was further divided into four subgroups of 6 rats which were exposed to 2%, 10% and 20% extracts and the final group were controls (unexposed). The ethanolic group was divided into five subgroups of 6 rats which were exposed to increasing doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400mg/kg/day extracts and the last group were controls (unexposed). The aqueous extracts were administered to the three subgroups for eight weeks ad libitum while the control group was exposed to tap water. Ethanol extracts were administered daily over a period of two weeks through gavage and the control group was administered water through gavage as well. Blood samples were collected, animals were sacrificed, and organs/tissues excised for histological assessment. Results: Haematological tests were selected as indicators of the damage to the tissue of organs, including the liver, kidney, and spleen. Comparison of treatment groups (n=6) and controls (n=6) across all ethanol extracts showed significant differences in the starting median change in weight at the 200g/kg/day dosage, as well as the median termination weight at 400g/kg/day. There were no statistical differences between the treatment groups and controls with regard to the rest of haematological variables. Comparison of the controls (n=6) and treatment groups (n=6) revealed an average median change in weight of slightly above 50g over the entire eightweek period of experimentation with aqueous extracts. The Histological evaluation could not reveal any pathological changes in both the aqueous and ethanolic extracts across all levels of dosage. Discussion and conclusion: Haematological results could not show any patterns in abnormalities although we observed statistically significant results on few parameters. Histologically, no pathological changes were observed. In conclusion, we summarize that the toxicological evaluation of Asparagus laricinus extracts may be considered relatively free of toxicity when given orally, as it did not cause death, damage, or inflammation to the tissues, nor produced any remarkable haematological adverse effects in both the male and female Sprague Dawley rats.