Toxicity study of dibutyl phthalate of Rubia cordifolia fruits: in vivo and in silico analysis.
Natural toxins from plant sources with wide ranges of biological activities reflect the upswing of drug design in the pharmaceutical industry. Rubia cordifolia L. is one of the most important red dye yielding plants. Most of the former researches have focused on the bioactive compounds from the roots of R. cordifolia, while no attention was paid towards the fruits. For the first time, here we report the presence of dibutyl phthalate in the fruits of R. cordifolia. Structural characterization was carried out using Ultraviolet-Visible spectrophotometer (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer (GC-MS), Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Acute toxicity of the crude ethanolic extracts of the R. cordifolia fruits was examined in Swiss albino mice. No mortality was observed in all treated mice with 100, 500, 1000 mg/kg body weight of crude extract of R. cordifolia fruit and it indicates that the LD50 value is higher than 1000 mg/kg body weight. This study exhibited a significant change in the body weight. Alanine transaminase (ALT), total protein, triglycerides, glucose, and also the histopathological analysis of liver for all treated mice showed difference from the control group. The dibutyl phthalate was further evaluated for the toxicity study through in silico analysis. Together, the results highlighted that the toxic potential of R. cordifolia fruits extracts and also the toxicity profile of the fruit should be essential for the future studies dealing with the long term effect in animals. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1059-1067, 2016.
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Amrita
A
Anantharaman
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Rajendra Rao
RR
Priya
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Hridya
H
Hemachandran
School of Advanced Sciences, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Sivaramakrishna
S
Akella
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Chandrasekaran
C
Rajasekaran
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Jai
J
Ganesh
Plant Biotechnology and Secondary Metabolites Section, NA&BTD, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400 094, India.
Devanand P
DP
Fulzele
School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632014, India.
Ramamoorthy
R
Siva
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D045470:Rubia / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000378:metabolism
D010936:Plant Extracts; D014280:Triglycerides; D003993:Dibutyl Phthalate; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
Rubia cordifolia; acute oral toxicity; dibutyl phthalate; fruits extracts; in silico