Evidence-based in vivo tocolytic activities of Alchornea laxiflora (Benth) (Euphorbiaceae) in female rats.

CaHReF 2016, Yaoundé Conges hall, 23 – 26 August 2016 , PL140

The leaves of Alchornea laxiflora are used in herbal medicine as a remedy for threatened abortion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of aqueous and methanolic extracts of the leaves of Alchornea laxiflora on implantation and last term of pregnancy.

For the implantation test, sperm-positive females were orally given either distilled water (10ml/kg), salbutamol (0.2mg/kg), aqueous or methanolic extract (55 and 100mg/kg) of Alchornea laxiflora from day 1 to day 7 of pregnancy. On day 10, these animals underwent laparotomy and the implantation sites counted. After surgery, the animals were followed up to the end of pregnancy and some gestational parameters recorded. For the late pregnancy study, the gestational parameters were measured after treating pregnant females from day 17 to day 25.
All sperm-positive females treated for 7 days with the plant extracts exhibited a pro-implantation effect similar to that of salbutamol. Neither the duration of gestation, the resorption rate, the litter size, the number of implantation sites nor the weight of pups at birth were significantly (p>0.05) different in plant-treated groups compared to controls. However, a significant (p<0.05) increase of the body weight gain was observed in the methanolic extract-treated (55mg/kg) rats. Other results showed that in all drug-treated animals, the expected pregnancy delivery period was delayed with significant data obtained in salbutamol (85.7%), methanolic extract (55mg/kg: 71.4%) and aqueous extract (100mg/kg: 28.57%) groups. With regard to the mean weight of pups at birth, the methanolic extract (55mg/kg) induced a significant (p<0.01) reduction (4.906±0.136) compared to salbutamol-treated animals (5.592± 0.122).

The pro-implantation effect and the delay of parturition revealed in this study suggest that Alchornea laxiflora possesses a tocolytic activity.

: Keywords: Alchornea laxiflora, implantation, parturition, tocolysis, rat