TOXICOLOGICAL STUDY OF ETHYL ACETATE FRACTION FROM CAPITULA OF SOLIDAGO CHILENSIS

BUCCIARELLI, A.; BRAS, C.; GANDINI, N.A.; MINETTI, A.; SKLIAR, M.

San Carlos de Bariloche

Congreso; Vth Internacional Congress of Ethnobotany ICEB; 2009

Solidago chilensis Meyen (Asteraceae) is a native species from South America commonly known as vara dorada, widely used in the popular medicine of different countries. Considering the possible therapeutical use of this plant, it is necessary to investigate its safety through toxicological studies. In the present work we evaluated the acute toxicity of the ethyl acetate fraction of Solidago chilensis in mice by means of a Functional Observational Battery (FOB) and by assessing the motor activity in an open field. The plant extract was incorporated into the diet and fed to 10-week-old female mice over 24 h at one dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight. Control mice only received the standard diet without the plant extract. At the end of the exposure, behavioral and functional parameters and motor activity were assessed in all animals. Subsequently, all the animals were maintained with standard diet without the plant extract for 14 days and the same parameters were evaluated again to determine reversibility, persistence, or delayed occurrence of toxic effects. Necropsy observations and histopathological examinations were realized on several tissues: liver, kidney, spleen, stomach and intestine. The acute exposure to the extract did not show significant differences between treated and control group in the different parameters analyzed during observations. Considering the results of the study it was demonstrated that the ethyl acetate fraction did not produce toxicity after acute exposure. However, future research like potential chronic toxicity associated with this extract will need to be evaluated through long term bioassays.