Acute and Repeated Dose Toxicity Studies of Methanol Extract of Bauhinia variegata Leaves

Bauhinia variegata Linn. (Caesalpiniaceae), an imperative medicinal plant in traditional system of medicine of India is known to have several therapeutic activities. The present study was carried out to determine the safety of methanol extract of Bauhinia variegata leaves (MEBV) after acute and repeated dose administration in rodents, as per OECD guidelines. For acute toxicity study, MEBV was administered orally to female Swiss albino mice at doses of 300 and 2000 mg/kg. For repeated dose toxicity study, Wistar rats of either sex were orally administered with MEBV at the dose of 1000 mg/kg/day for a period of 28 days. The effects of MEBV on body weight, food and water consumption, hematological parameters, biochemical parameters and histopahology of important organs were studied. In acute toxicity study, administration of the MEBV at selected doses did not produce any mortality or significant changes in the general behaviour. The no‐observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of methanol extract was found to be 2000 mg/kg. In repeated dose toxicity study, no mortality was observed at selected dose during study period of 28 days. There were no significant differences in the general condition, body weight, food and water intake in treated animals when compared with control animals. 28 days repeated administration of MEBV did not show any significant changes in haematological and biochemical parameters in experimental animals. Histopathology of important organs showed normal structure. Thus, the methanol extract of Bauhinia variegata leaves was found safe in acute and repeated dose toxicity studies when tested in mice and rats.