Contribution to the Preclinical Safety Assessment of Lannea velutina and Sorindeia juglandifolia Leaves

Abstract

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Contribution to the Preclinical Safety Assessment of Lannea velutina and Sorindeia juglandifolia Leaves by Quintino Malú 1,Katelene Lima 1,Maryam Malmir 1,Rui Pinto 1,2,Isabel Moreira da Silva 1ORCID,Luís Catarino 3ORCID,Maria Paula Duarte 4,Rita Serrano 1ORCID,João Rocha 1ORCID,Beatriz Silva Lima 1 andOlga Silva 1,*ORCID 1 Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal 2 Dr Joaquim Chaves Laboratório de Análises Clínicas, 2790-224 Carnaxide, Portugal 3 Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, (cE3c) & CHANGE-Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculty of Sciences, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal 4 MEtRICs/Chemical Department, Nova School of Science and Technology, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Plants 2023, 12(1), 130; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12010130 Received: 5 December 2022 / Revised: 20 December 2022 / Accepted: 21 December 2022 / Published: 27 December 2022 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Medicinal Plant Extracts) Download Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract Dried leaves of Lannea velutina A. Rich. and Sorindeia juglandifolia (A. Rich.) Planch. ex Oliv. (family Anacardiaceae) are used in African traditional medicine. Although these medicinal plants have widespread use in the treatment of inflammatory diseases, there is no scientific data concerning their preclinical or clinical safety. This work aimed to investigate the phytochemical properties of the leaves of both species using HPLC-UV/DAD, as well as the in vivo oral repeated-dose toxicity of 70% hydroethanolic leaf extract of S. juglandifolia and the in vitro genotoxicity of 70% hydroethanolic leaf extracts of L. velutina and S. juglandifolia. Clinical signs of toxicity, body weight variations, and changes in food consumption, mortality, and blood biochemical parameters were monitored. Genotoxicity was assessed using the bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test) with and without metabolic activation, according to OECD guidelines. The obtained results showed the presence of gallic acid and anacardic acid as the main marker constituents in both species. No significant changes in general body weight or food intake were observed; small significant changes with no critical relevance were observed in the blood biochemistry of animals treated with S. juglandifolia hydroethanolic extract (50, 400, and 1000 mg/kg body weight) compared to those in the control group. No genotoxicity was observed in the bacterial reverse mutation assay with S. juglandifolia and L. velutina extracts (up to 5 mg/plate). The safety data obtained in vivo and lack of genotoxic potential in vitro points to the safe medicinal use of S. juglandifolia and L. velutina extracts.