Phytochemical Evaluation, Acute Toxicity, and Antiepileptic Efficacies of Leaf and Root Extract of Boswellia dalzielii Hutch. (Burseraceae)

Abstract

Boswellia dalzielii Hutch (Burseraceae) is a popular medicinal plant in Northeastern Nigerian ethnomedicine, known for its ability to treat epilepsy. This research aimed to scientifically evaluate the safety and antiepileptic use of aqueous extracts from the leaf and stem bark. The pulverized leaf and root bark were extracted using distilled water through the reflux method and were screened for phytochemicals. Lorke’s method was used to calculate the lethal dose (LD_50), and the antiepileptic effects were assessed in rats using pentylenetetrazole and strychnine-induced seizure models. One-way analysis of variance was used to evaluate the result. Preliminary screening of phytocompounds of the aqueous extracts from Boswellia dalzielli leaves and root bark identified saponins, tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids in both extracts, with alkaloids found only in the leaf extract. Acute toxicity tests, administered orally and intraperitoneally, showed an LD50 value of ≥ 5000 mg/kg, indicating that the extracts are safe for medicinal use. 250 and 500 mg/kg doses of aqueous leaf and root extracts conferred protection of 60 and 80%: 40 and 60% respectively against pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsion as well as protected 40 and 80; 20% and 60% of rats against strychnine-induced convulsion for both the leaf and root bark extracts respectively, when compared to sodium valproate (20 mg/kg). This standard drug conferred 100% protection. The aqueous leaf and root extracts of Boswellia dalzielii are revealed in this study to have antiepileptic efficacy, at the doses used, although the leaf is more potent than the root bark aqueous extract. Thus, this study has provided scientific justification for their medicinal use in the treatment of epilepsy.