Toxicological evaluation of the aqueous extract of Caralluma europaea and its immunomodulatory and inflammatory activities

BACKGROUND: (CE) has been studied for its chemical constituents, and no information is available on its toxicity or its pharmacological activities. OBJECTIVE: after acute and subchronic oral gavages in Swiss albino's mice and its immunomodulatory and inflammatory activities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extract was administrated in single oral dose at 5 g/kg body weight for the acute toxicity test and by gavages daily at doses of 1, 2.5, or 5 g/kg for 30 consecutive days for the subchronic toxicity test. The immunomodulatory activities and inflammatory activities were tested by the evaluation of hemagglutination antibodies (HAs) titers and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response. RESULTS: when treated with CE extract confirmed their toxicity potential. There was also increase of "HA titer" and "DTH" response in mice treated with nontoxic dose of CE (1 g/kg) compared to control group. This immune activity was confirmed by the high number of lymphocytes infiltrates noted in the different organs. CONCLUSION: We conclude that CE at the dose up of 1 g/kg produced toxic effect in mice that induced an immune inflammatory reaction. SUMMARY: , ALT: Alanine aminotransferase, AST: Aspartate aminotransferase, RRBCs: Rat red blood cells, DTH: Delayed-type hypersensitivity response, PBS: Phosphate buffer solution.