SUBCHRONIC TOXICITY OF MALAYSIAN ACALYPHA INDICA: BIOCHEMISTRY AND HAEMATOLOGY ANALYSIS OF RAT

Acalypha indica is one of the medicinal plants that have been used since ages to treat various diseases such as pneumoniae, asthma and skin diseases. This study aimed to explore the subchronic toxicity effect of Acalypha indica on Sprague Dawley rats based on haematological and biochemical parameters. The extract of Acalypha indica was prepared by aqueous extraction technique. 48 Sprague Dawley rats aged 7 weeks, weighing 150-200g were randomly divided into four groups, 6 animals per gender. A control group received water vehicle while three treated groups received the extract at dosage of 100 (low dosage group), 200 (medium dosage group) and 300 (high dosage group) mg/kg body weight. The sample was administered orally by using oral gavage daily for 90 days. No sign of toxicity and mortality was recorded in all groups throughout the study. There were no significant different (p>0.05) in body weight gain, food and water intake between control and treatment group. However, there was significant different in uric acid between control and high dosage group of male and female rats but the mean were in normal range. There were also reduced in mean of urea and creatinine in all dosage group of male and urea for all dosage group of female. Statistically significant reduced in urea was recorded between control and high dosage group of male only. Other parameters showed no significant different between control and treatment groups. Therefore, Acalypha indica is safe for human consumption and might be potential in reducing kidney damage problem.