World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

THE ACUTE TOXICITY OF THE AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF PEGANUM HARMALA L, « MOROCCO » PREPARED BY THE TRADITIONAL METHOD

*Fatima Zahra Benaddi, Abdelilah Ouahbi, Meryem Bellahmar and Said Chakir

ABSTRACT

Peganum Harmel is a medicinal plant widely used in traditional medicine for its richness in alkaloid (harmalol, and harman and quinazoline harmine, harmaline). Unfortunately the bad use, the non respect of the doses during the treatments transforms this plant with a very powerful poison. The present study was initiated to study the acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of peganum harmala L. Administration of the aqueous extract at different doses taken intraperitoneal injection on male mice to severe symptoms of toxicity. These symptoms are presented by Drowsiness, hypoactivity, anorexia, isolation, bradycardia, difficulty breathing, exicitaion, death the results obtained show that, the highest dose killing all animals or 100% lethal dose (LD 100) is 10 g / kg for peganum harmala L. while for the maximum tolerated dose it is 1g / kg. The LD50 was determined by three methods Kraber and Behrens, trevane (1927) and Bliss (1938). we obtained very close values, 1.8 g/kg for the Kraber and Behrens method, 2.4g/kg for trevane (1927) and 2.5±0.75g/kg for that of Bliss (1938). this result indicates that the aqueous extract of the peganum harmala L plant administered by intraperitoneal injection is moderately toxic.

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