Toxicity and antinociceptive effects of hamelia patens

Many medicinal herbs are used in folk medicine without taking into account their toxicity. Hamelia patensJacq. (Rubiaceae), a Mexican endemic species, is used for the empirical treatment of pain. The aim of thiswork was to evaluate the toxicity and antinociceptive effects of ethanolic extracts of H. patens leaves.The toxicity of H. patens leaves (500–5000 mg/kg) was evaluated in acute (14 days) and subacute (28days) assays. In the subacute assay, a blood analysis (both hematology and chemistry) was carried out.The antinociceptive effects of H. patens leaves (50–200 mg/kg) were evaluated using thermal-inducednociception (hot plate) and the chemical-induced nociceptive tests (acid acetic and formalin). In theacute toxicity test, the LD50estimated for H. patens leaves was 2964 mg/kg i.p. and >5000 mg/kg p.o.,whereas in the subacute test HPE did not affect hematological or biochemical parameters. In chemical-induced nociception models, H. patens (100 and 200 mg/kg p.o.) showed antinociceptive effects withsimilar activity than 100 mg/kg naproxen. In the hot plate test, HPE at 100 mg/kg (17%25) and 200 mg/kg(25%25) showed moderate antinociceptive effects. HPE could be a good source of antinociceptive agentsbecause of its good activity and low toxicity. © 2015 2015 Sociedade Brasileira de Farmacognosia. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

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