Cytotoxic effect of various solvent extracts of Acacia nilotica pods on human erythrocyte cells

Abstract

Acacia nilotica is a multipurpose medicinal plant. Different parts of this plant are used to alleviate or treat various diseases. In the current study, an attempt was made to study the cytotoxicity of Acacia nilotica pod extracts towards normal human erythrocytes. The pods of A. nilotica were ground, then three different solvents were used in different ratios to prepare crude extracts, which were screened for in vitro hemolytic activity. UV-visible spectrophotometric method was used for the quantification of the hemolytic effect. The hemolysis percentages of the different extracts were found to be very minimal (Methanol extract: 4.65±0.24%; Ethanol extract: 3.77±0.48% and Aqueous extract: 2.69±0.51%), while Triton X-100 produced total hemolysis at the lowest concentration. These findings suggested that this plant could be considered as safe to human erythrocytes. However, further studies through in vivo toxicological tests should be considered in the future in order to best justify its safety.