title: Acute and subacute toxicity of Cassia occidentalis L. stem and leaf in Wistar rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cassia occidentalis L. (syn. Senna occidentalis; Leguminosae) has been used as natural medicine in rainforests and tropical regions as laxative, analgesic, febrifuge, diuretic, hepatoprotective, vermifuge and colagogo. Herein, we performed a pre-clinical safety evaluation of hydroalcoholic extract of Cassia occidentalis stem and leaf in male and female Wistar rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  In acute toxicity tests, four groups of rats (n=5/group/sex) were orally treated with doses of 0.625, 1.25, 2.5 and 5.0 g/kg and general behavior, adverse effects and mortality were recorded for up to 14 days. In subacute toxicity assays, animals received Cassia occidentalis by gavage at the doses of 0.10, 0.50 or 2.5 g/kg/day (n=10/group/sex) for 30 days and biochemical, hematological and morphological parameters were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cassia occidentalis did not produce any hazardous symptoms or death in the acute toxicity test, showing a LD(50) higher than 5 g/kg. Subacute treatment with Cassia occidentalis failed to change body weight gain, food and water consumption and hematological and biochemical profiles. In addition, no changes in macroscopical and microscopical aspect of organs were observed in the animals.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that acute or subacute administration of Cassia occidentalis is not toxic in male and female Wistar rats, suggesting a safety use by humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50740-521, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mirtes G B
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ticiana P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Aragão
authors.forename: Carlos F B
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Vasconcelos
authors.forename: Pablo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Bruno A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Igor M A
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: João H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Costa-Silva
authors.forename: Almir G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wanderley
authors.forename: Simone S L
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Lafayette
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002366:Cassia / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000633:toxicity*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D018547:Plant Stems; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010936:Plant Extracts