Kouadio Kouakou John and Bamba Soualiho

Purpose: Citrus aurantifolia is an aromatic plant widespread in West Africa regions. The leaves citrus aurantifolia are used in the treatment of ulcers, skin and mouth infections, nausea and fever. Our study is based on the evaluation of acute toxicity and antipyretic activity of aqueous extract of leaves of Citrus aurantifolia.

Materials and Methods: The acute toxicity test was carried out on female wistar rats using the limit test method of OECD protocol 423. Thus the LD50 was determined from the limit test 2000 mg/kg /bw. A single dose of the extract was administered and the effects on the behavior and life of the treated animal were observed. The antipyretic activity was determined by evaluating the inhibition of hyperthermia induced by brewer's yeast 20% (Saccharomycete cerevisiae) at the dose of 20 ml / kg on rats.

Results: The results obtained did not reveal any particular signs of toxicity in rats for 14 days.

The oral administration of the doses did not cause any mortality. Thus, according to the OECD 423 guideline, the lethal dose would be between 2000 and 5000 mg/ bw. The extract of citrus aurantifolia showed a strong inhibition of fever from the first hour with inhibition percentages of 50.14%, 56.46% and 57.26% respectively at doses of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg/bw. The extract of leaves of C. aurantifolia were shown to be very effective until the end of the experiment (with percentages of inhibition 72.53%, 87.6% and 93.3% respectily).

These initial results confirm the validity of the traditional indication for this plant with a view to developing a drug for the treatment of fever.

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