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Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 6(27), pp. 4429-4435, 18 July, 2012
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR
DOI: 10.5897/JMPR12.595
ISSN 1996-0875 ©2012 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Evaluation of biochemical, hematological and
histopathological parameters of albino rats treated with
Stemona aphylla Craib. extract
Wararut Buncharoen, Supap Saenphet, Siriwadee Chomdej and Kanokporn Saenphet*
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Accepted 23 May, 2012
In order to measure the safety of Stemona aphylla Craib., an effective insecticidal plant, on mammals,
the effects of the ethanolic extracts from the root of S. aphylla on blood biochemical, hematological and
histopathological indices of albino rats have been evaluated. Male rats were given extracts orally at the
doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg body weight/day for 45 consecutive days. These were compared to control
rats which received only distilled water. The results of this study showed no significant differences in
aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen and
creatinine of all treated groups when compared to those of the control groups (P > 0.05). Nevertheless,
an increase in lymphocytes count was observed in all treated groups. The alterations in liver and kidney
tissues of all treated groups showed leukocyte infiltration and haemorrhage in hepatic sinusoids.
Moreover, the contracted glomerulus, dilated renal tubules and leukocyte infiltration were found in
kidney tissues. The significant injury of tissues observed in this study is a sign of the toxicity of S.
aphylla to mammalian species. The use of S. aphylla as bioinsecticide active ingredient should be,
therefore, thoroughly considered.
Key words: Biochemistry, hematology, histopathology, rats, Stemona aphylla Craib.
INTRODUCTION
The use of synthetic insecticides is still the main strategy
to control insect pests in agriculture, industry, medicine
and households. The massive use of synthetic insecticides
in agriculture has created enormous problems
worldwide. These insecticides have serious drawbacks,
for example, accumulation in the environment including
human health and non-target organisms (Groves and
Chapman, 2011). Humans can be exposed to insecticides
by food consumption, inhalation, or direct contact
with the skin. To reduce these problems, recent interest
has been focused on using bioinsecticides derived from
plant materials as alternatives to control insect pests.
Many plants species have been reported to have
insecticidal properties such as Azadirachta indica A.
Juss, Acorus calamus L., Eupatorium odoratum L. and
*Corresponding author. E-mail: k_saenphet@yahoo.com. Tel:
+66-86-6050743. Fax: +66-53-892259.
Mammea siamensis Kosterm (Delobel and Malonga,
1987; Issakul et al., 2007; Nandi et al., 2008; Satti et al.,
2010). Stemona aphylla Craib. is a member of the
Stemonaceae family and it is known as Non Tai Yak in
Thailand. The tuberous root of this plant has long been
used as an insecticide. Chemical constituents of the plant
extract include stemofoline, (2’S)-hydroxystemofoline,
stemaphylline, (11Z)-1’,2’-didehydrostemofoline,
stemaphylline-N-oxide, (Mungkornasawakul et al., 2009)
stemofurans M-R, stemofuran E, stemofuran F,
stemofuran J and stilbostemin F (Sastraruji et al., 2011).
The insecticidal activity of these compounds have been
well documented (Brem et al., 2002; Mungkornasawakul
et al., 2009; Sastraruji et al., 2011; Tang et al., 2008).
Thus, this plant species may be promoted and developed
as bioinsecticide products on an industrial scale, if it
causes no toxicity to non-target organisms. Nevertheless,
quite a bit of research has been reported on the toxicity of
bioinsecticide derived from plant materials to mammals
(Barbosa et al., 2008; Katsayal et al., 2008). Nowadays,