Toxicological Evaluations of the Crude Extracts and Fractions of Moringa stenopetala Leaves in Liver and Kidney of Rats Geleta B 1,2* , Makonnen E 2 and Debella A 1 1 Directorate of Traditional and Modern Medicine Research, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 1242, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2 Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 9080, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Corresponding author: Bekesho Geleta, Directorate of Traditional and Modern Medicine Research, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, P.O. Box 1242, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Tel: +251911091969; E-mail: bekeshog@gmail.com Received date: Nov 20, 2015; Accepted date: Dec 14, 2015; Published date: Dec 20, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Geleta B et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Background: Moringa stenopetala is a medicinal plant that has been used in Ethiopian tradi-tional medicine as a remedy for treatment of hypertension, diabetes, malaria and stomach pain. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the safety of the extracts and fractions of Moringa stenopetala leaves in liver and kidney of female Wistar rats. Methods: For acute toxicity study, the female Wistar rats were randomly divided into control and treatment groups that received distilled water and oral administration of single dose of 5000 mg/kg (n=5) extract, respectively and followed for 14 days. For repeated daily administration of extract, the female Wistar rats were Female Wistar rats were randomly divided into control and treatment groups (n=6). Treatment groups were given daily extracts (250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg) orally. Whereas, normal control received distilled water ad libitum for 15 days. On the 16th day the blood was sampled to evaluate the effect on liver and kidney using clinical chemistry analyzer. Results: The acute toxicity study found no signs of toxicity; hence LD 50 was greater than 5000 mg/kg. The biochemical test revealed that extracts produced a rise in liver in a dose de-pendent manner but no effect on kidney function indicators compared with normal control. Conclusion: These findings revealed that the extracts of Moringa stenopetala are toxic to liver but not to kidney. Keywords: Toxicity; Moringa stenopetala; Liver; Kidney Abbreviations: ALT: Alanine Transaminase; AST: Aspartate Transaminase; ALP: Alkaline Phosphatase; LD: Lactate Dehydrogenase; GGT: Gamma- Glutamyl Transpeptidase; BUN: Blood Urea Nitrogen; EPHI: Ethiopian Public Health Institute; EtOH: Ethanol; AQ: Aqueous; EtAc: Ethyl Acetate; OECD: Organization for Economic and Co-operation and Development; D 1 : Frist day; D 5 : Fiſth day; D 7 : Seventh day; D 10 : Tenth day; D 14 : Fourteenth day; D 15 : Fiſteenth day; LD 50 : Lethal dose-50 Introduction Plants provided effective sources of traditional medicines against many ailments since ancient times. Peoples of all continents, especially in Africa and Asia, with its diverse culture and rich plant flora, used folklore medicine for their health needs [1]. Medicinal plants contain various pharmacologically active compounds which have useful therapeutic applications [2] and many are utilized in the development of the drug industry [3]. About thirty percent of the drugs sold world- wide contain compounds derived from plants [4]. Although there is increased acceptance and consumption of herbal remedies worldwide, care must be taken not to consume harmful plants or high doses of plant extracts that could have deleterious effects on vital body organs either in short term or long term. Concerns by medical personnel indicate that herbal medicines may be harmful to vital organs such as liver and kidneys [5]. Toxic effects due to herbal medicine may manifest in a number of organs such as kidney, liver, stomach, nervous system and blood. e liver is a vital organ for maintaining of metabolic functions and detoxification from exogenous and endogenous substances like xenobiotics, drugs and viral infections [6,7]. When the liver is exposed to such substances, its protective mechanisms are overpowered due to cellular necrosis and increase in serum levels of biochemical parameters like ALP and AST [8,9]. Determination of efficacy and safety of herbal remedies is necessary as many people use them for self-medication [10,11]. For majority of herbal products in use, very little is known about their active and /or toxic constituents. Evaluating the prolonged effects of medicinal plant extracts used in humans is useful in assessing the potential toxic effects. is increases the confidence in their safety to humans, particularly for use in the development of pharmaceuticals. e provision of safe and effective herbal therapies could, thus, become a critical tool to increase access to health care [12]. Moringa stenopetala (Baker f.) Cudof is one of these medicinal plants widely used for treatment of variety of diseases including hypertension. M. stenopetala (Baker f.) Cudof. belongs to the family Moringacae represented only by a single genus Moringa. e genus is Geleta, J Cytol Histol 2016, 7:1 DOI: 10.4172/2157-7099.1000383 Research Article Open Access J Cytol Histol ISSN:2157-7099 JCH, an open access journal Volume 7 • Issue 1 • 1000383 Journal of Cytology & Histology J o u r n a l o f C y t o l o g y & H i s t o l o g y ISSN: 2157-7099