Toxicologic Studies

Acute toxicity

Despite the first report on the pharmacological activity of M. calabura published

in 1991, the first attempt to determine the plant acute toxicity was published only in 2011.
The acute oral toxicity was determined on M. calabura leaves collected from the Station
Ghanpur, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh, India. Antidiabetic effect of leaves of Muntingia
calabura L., in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The methanol extract of the
leaves, in doses ranging from 300, 500, and 2000mg/kg, was administered orally to rats.
Signs of toxicity were observed for the first 23h after extract administration, followed
by observation on the percentage of mortality beginning from 24h up to a period of 14d.
The results obtained showed no sign of toxicity and no mortality was recorded up to the
dose of 2000mg/kg of extract.

Another attempt to study the acute toxicity of M. calabura leaves, collected in

Selangor, Malaysia, was carried out by Ibrahim et al. (2012). Leaves extract of Muntingia
calabura protects against gastric ulcer induced by ethanol in SpragueDawley rats. The
ethanol extract of the leaves, EEMCL, in the doses of 2000 and 5000mg/kg, was
administered orally. Again, no mortality was recorded up to 14d following the extract
administration and no visible clinical signs of general weakness in the animals were
observed. Moreover, this observation was supported by further histopathological,
hematological, and serum biochemical studies which revealed the inviolability of the
extracts to retain the rats normal conditions. These findings also indicate that the
EEMCL will not induce acute toxicity and is safe for consumption even at the highest
dose (5000mg/kg).

In the same year, Karthyaini, Suresh K. (2012). Pharmacognostic evaluation, in

vitro antioxidant and in vivo anti-inflammatory studies of Muntingia calabura Linn.
studied the acute toxicity effect of M. calabura fruits using the limit test dose of 2000
mg/kg. However, the type of solvents used for extraction for the toxicity study was not
described in any part of the report (neither in the Methodology nor Results sections),
despite their claim that there were no signs of toxicity or mortality recorded at 2000
mg/kg. In addition, it was also reported that the ethanol extract of M. calabura fruits
(EEMCFr) did not show signs of toxicity at 1000mg/kg.

In a recent attempt to determine the acute toxicity of M. calabura leaves, collected

from Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, between May and August 2010, the MEMC L was
prepared for a single dose (2000mg/kg) acute oral toxicity test. Antiulcer activity
of Muntingia calabura leaves involves the modulation of endogenous nitric oxide and
nonprotein sulfhydryl compounds. Interestingly, 2000mg/kg MEMCL also did not cause
any signs of toxicity and mortality in the treated animals.

Cytotoxic activity

The first attempt to study the cytotoxic activity of M. calabura was performed
using the roots of the plant collected in Sarabuti Province, Thailand. Plant anticancer
agents, XLVIII. New cytotoxic flavanoids from Muntingia calabura roots. J Nat Prod
54:196206). The methanol extract of the roots, MEMCR, was first subjected to the
isolation of bioactive compounds and then tested against BC1 (human breast cancer),
HT-1080 (human fibrosarcoma), Lu1 (human lung cancer), Me12 (human melanoma),
Co12 (human colon cancer), KB (human nasopharyngeal carcinoma), KB-V (vincristine-
resistant KB), and P-388 (murine lymphocytic leukemia) cell lines.

References

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/13880209.2014.908397?src=recsys