In vivo anti-inflammatory effect and toxicological screening of Maytenus heterophylla and Maytenus senegalensis extracts

AbstractMaytenus heterophylla (Eckl & Zeyh.) Robson and Maytenus senegalensis (Lam). Exell are two African medicinalplantsusedtotreatpainfulandinflammatorydiseases.Weevaluatedtheinvivo(peros)anti-inflammatoryactiv-ity of M. heterophylla leaf, stem and root extracts and of M. senegalensis leaf and stem extracts. Additionally, weassessed their in vivo acute and sub-acute toxicities. Anti-inflammatory activities of ethanol extracts weredetermined in Wistar albino rats, by the carrageenan-induced paw oedema method. Acute and sub-acute toxi-city screening of the extracts was evaluated in adult male CD-6 mice. Leaf extracts of M. heterophylla andM. senegalensis exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity (120 mg/kg, per os), reducing oedema by 51%and 35%, respectively. While M. heterophylla extracts at 1200 mg/kg have shown to be non-toxic, M. senegalen-sis extracts indicated some toxicity. Our results show a significant anti-inflammatory effect of both M. hetero-phylla and M. senegalensis leaf extracts in a local model of acute inflammation and suggest the absence of acuteand sub-acute toxicity signs of the M. heterophylla leaf extract (but not of M. senegalensis). Ongoing studies willsurely shed some light into the mechanism of action of this active extract and establish its chemical fingerprint.KeywordsAfrican medicinal plants, anti-inflammatory activity, Maytenus heterophylla, Maytenus senegalensis, single-dosetoxicity, repeated-dose toxicity