Study of Acute and Subacute Toxicities of Wakouba on Rats

Aims: Wakouba is a salty substance used till medieval ages in traditional medical practices for the preventive treatment of hypertension. The current research focuses on the acute and sub-acute toxicity of this salt using laboratory Wistar rats.

Study Design: Wakouba prepared using rank 17 fronds from Elaeis guineensis plant’s crown: fronds harvested, dried, incinerated; then the ash dissolved into water and duly filtered. Then various Wakouba doses orally given to adult Wistar rats and acute and sub-acute toxicity parameters measured for 28-days.

Place and Duration of Study: Investigations performed at La Mé Research Station for Oil-Palm (National Agronomical Research Centre, CNRA) and Laboratory of Biochemical Pharmacodynamy (Felix Houphouët-Boigny University), between Mai 2014 and February 2015.

Methodology: For acute toxicity assessment, Wakouba given separately to rats at doses varying from 5,000 to 8,000 mg/kg body weight (BW) by oral route, and animals observed for behavioral changes or mortality. For sub-acute toxicity study, animals also orally administered with various Wakouba doses between 950 to 2,500 mg/kg BW, and then weekly examined, during 28 days, for toxicity symptoms dealing with hematological parameters (numbers of red blood cells, white blood cells, and hemoglobin; percentage of hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular rate, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, lymphocytes, and platelet count), biochemical characteristics (urea, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, total cholesterol triglycerides, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatine phosphokinase), and histopathological traits (liver, heart, and kidney).

Results: Wakouba appeared a non-toxic substance because it revealed LD50 and MTD respective values of 6,308.57 and 5,000 mg/kg BW. Beyond the 28-days assessment, the rats were sacrificed for hematological, biochemical and histopathology concerns. Any significant variations in the overall hematological traits and some biochemical parameters (AST, ALP, CPK, LDL, and TP) were observed. However, at the rate of 2,500 mg/kg BW, Wakouba induced significant (P<0.001) increases in urea, creatinine, and HDL-cholesterol and decrease drop in the LDL-cholesterol from the treated animals. Histological examination of vital organs showed normal architecture suggesting no morphological trouble in the heart, kidney, and liver.

Conclusion: The oral administration of Wakouba did not produce any significant toxic effect from rats. Such observations are significant safety margin in the uses of Wakouba that could therefore be valorized in therapeutic approach through pharmaceutical formulations.