TOXICOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF ALOE BARBADENSIS ROOT EXTRACTS IN WISTAR RATS USING HAEMATOLOGY AND LIPID PROFILE.

A. barbadensis is a folkloric medicinal plant used for decades to treat several ailments such as intestinal ulcers, gynaecological problems, wound healing, ringworm and eczema. Other uses of A. barbadensisinclude impotence, low libido, appetite disorder, emmenagogue, pile, asthma, cough and jaundice. This study was aimed at determining the safety of the ethanol extract of Aloe barbadensis root using haematological, and lipid parameters. A. barbadensisroot extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) and control (distilled water, 0.2mL/kg) were administered to sixty male Wistar rats (150-270 g body weights) for 14 days. The haematological parameters were determined using the collected whole blood and lipid profile assessed using the serum. The oral administration of the extract on red blood cells and white blood cells, as well as other haematological indices (haemoglobin, Platelets crit (PCT), mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, granulocytes, lymphocytes, Platelets crit and monocytes), were significantly(p<0.05) not altered. A non-significant (p>0.05) effect of the extract on high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) was observed in the serum of the male rats. The results indicate that within the doses used in the study, the ethanol extract of A. barbadensis root is relatively non-toxic with no significant localized toxicity. However, the root of A. barbadensis should be cautiously used because of its selective effect on some lipid parameters in the male rats巴巴多斯芦荟（A. barbadensis）是一种民间药用植物，已被应用数十年，用于治疗多种病症，包括肠道溃疡、妇科疾病、伤口愈合、癣与湿疹。巴巴多斯芦荟的其他应用还涵盖阳痿、性欲减退、食欲紊乱、调经治疗、痔疮、哮喘、咳嗽与黄疸。本研究旨在通过血液学与脂质参数，评估巴巴多斯芦荟根乙醇提取物的安全性。实验给60只体重150~270g的雄性Wistar大鼠灌胃给予巴巴多斯芦荟根提取物（剂量分别为100、200、400mg/kg）与对照组溶剂（蒸馏水，0.2mL/kg），持续干预14天。研究人员采集全血以检测血液学参数，采集血清以评估血脂谱。结果显示，灌胃给予该提取物对红细胞、白细胞及其他血液学指标[血红蛋白、血小板压积（PCT）、平均红细胞体积、平均红细胞血红蛋白量、平均红细胞血红蛋白浓度、粒细胞、淋巴细胞、血小板压积（PCT）以及单核细胞]均未造成显著改变（p<0.05）。在雄性大鼠血清中，该提取物对高密度脂蛋白（HDL）与低密度脂蛋白（LDL）的影响无统计学意义（p>0.05）。研究结果表明，在本研究使用的剂量范围内，巴巴多斯芦荟根乙醇提取物毒性较低，且无显著局部毒性。但由于该提取物对雄性大鼠部分脂质参数存在选择性影响，临床使用巴巴多斯芦荟根时仍需谨慎。