Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Current Drug Safety

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1574-8863
ISSN (Online): 2212-3911

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Journal Insight Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Research Article

New Indices for Ethnotoxicological Assessment of Medicinal Plants: Example of Tafilalet Region, Morocco

Author(s): Mohamed Eddouks*, Mohammed Ajebli and Morad Hebi

Volume 14, Issue 2, 2019

Page: [127 - 139] Pages: 13

DOI: 10.2174/1574886314666190206184436

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: Several botanical species are poisonous and are used for medicinal purposes in traditional medicine. In fact, a relationship between toxicity and phytotherapeutic potential of medicinal plants exists.

Objective: Until now, there is no ethnopharmacological indices evaluating mathematically the toxic property of any medicinal plant used traditionally. Consequently, it is important to find this link through the establishment and development of novel indices that put into consideration the relationship between toxicity and phytotherapy. Two essential objectives were targeted in the present investigation: firstly, we aimed to establish novel indices which permit researchers to evaluate data obtained in any ethnobotanical survey targeting toxic plants. Secondly, we aimed also to collect data and information about toxic species, mainly those used traditionally for therapeutic purposes in the region of Tafilalet (southeast of Morocco).

Methods: The total informant interviewed in our study was 1616 (where 1500 were simple local inhabitants and 116 were herbalists). This inquiry was carried out through semi-structured and structured interviews and the sampling technique used was the stratified sample (9 stratums). Data obtained was analyzed using 3 new indices: Degree of Taxonomic Toxicity (DT), Degree of Botanical Families Toxicity (DFT) and Relative Link of Toxicity (RLT).

Results: 47 toxic species belonging to 38 botanical families were quoted in our survey. The highest value of DT was observed for Atractylis gummifera L. (DT=24.67). According to the calculated value of DFT, the most toxic plant family in the region of Tafilalet was Asteraceae (DFT=143.90). Nervous system disorders are the main ailment caused by the toxicity of poisonous species used in the traditional medicine in Tafilalet (RLT=1.44).

Conclusion: Novel indices established in this investigation (DT, DFT and RLT) have been demonstrated to be useful for interpreting data collected in Tafilalet region and could serve for other ethnopharmacological surveys of toxic medicinal plants.

Keywords: Toxic plants, traditional medicine, degree of taxonomic toxicity, degree of botanical families toxicity, RLT, Atractylis gummifera L.

« Previous Next »
Graphical Abstract

[1]
Steele J. A brief history of poisonous plants Available from: http://www.manyhatspublications.com/article-144.html
[2]
Robert HP, Luch A, Eds. Molecular, clinical and environmental toxicology. Basel: Springer 2009.
[3]
Bellakhdar J. Benabid A Vittoz J, Rabat MJ, EdsTissint Monograph on Daraa Region, Morocco Al Biruniya : Rabat . 1992.
[4]
Gil AC. Methods and techniques of social research. 5th ed. São Paulo: Editora Atlas 1999.
[5]
Fennane M, Ibn TM. Vascular flora of Morocco. Rabat: Travaux de l’Institut Scientifique 1998.
[6]
Martin ML, Moran A, San Roman L. Contribution to a toxicological study of Atractylis gummifera L. An Real Acad Farm 1985; 51: 751-6.
[7]
Capdevielle P, Darracq R. Poisoning by bird-line thistle (Astractylis gummifera L.). Med Trop 1980; 40(2): 137-42.
[8]
Luciani S, Martini N, Santi R. Effects of carboxyatractyloside a structural analogue of atractyloside on mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Life Sci 1971; 10: 961-8.
[9]
Ellenhorn M, Schonwald S, Ordog G. Ellenhorn’s medical toxicology: Diagnosis and treatment of human poisoning. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins 1997.
[10]
Langford SD, Boor PJ. Oleander toxicity: An examination of human and animal toxic exposures. Toxicology 1996; 109: 1-13.
[11]
Barbosa RR, Fontenele-Neto JD, Soto BB. Toxicity in goats caused by oleander (Nerium oleander). Res Vet Sci 2008; 85: 279-81.
[12]
Lim TK. Edible medicinal and non-medicinal plants 5th ed Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013, p 203.
[13]
Weid M, Ziegler J, Kutchan TM. The roles of latex and the vascular bundle in morphine biosynthesis in the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004; 101(38): 13957-62.
[14]
Knight AP. A guide to poisonous house and garden plants. 1st ed. Teton NewMedia USA 2014.
[15]
Medscape. Tropane alkaloid poisoning. Available from: . http:// emedicine.medscape.com/article/816657-overview.
[16]
Hu TW, Mao Z. China at the crossroads: The economics of tobacco and health. Tob Control 2006; 15: 37-41.
[17]
Taylor and Francis Group. The chemical components of tobacco and tobacco smoke. Philadelphia: CRC Press 2008.
[18]
Malczewska-Jasko K, Jasiewicz B, Nska LM. Nicotine alkaloids as antioxidant and potential protective agents against in vitro oxidative haemolysis. Chem Biol Interact 2016; 243: 62-71.
[19]
Ginzkey C, Steussloff G, Koehler C, et al. Nicotine causes genotoxic damage but is not metabolized during long-term exposure of human nasal miniorgan cultures. Toxicol Lett 2014; 229: 303-10.
[20]
Gajewska M, Worth A, Urani C, Briesen H, Schramm KW. The acute effects of daily nicotine intake on heart rate- A toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic modelling study. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2014; 70: 312-24.
[21]
Mosbah R, Mokhtar IY, Mantovani A. Nicotine-induced reproductive toxicity, oxidative damage, histological changes and haematotoxicity in male rats: The protective effects of green tea extract. Exp Toxicol Pathol 2015; 67: 253-9.
[22]
Berrut C, Bisetti A, Widgren S, Tissot I-D, Loizeau E. Colite pseudomembraneuse causee par l’ingestion de coloquinte. Schweiz Med Wschr 1987; 117: 135-8.
[23]
Darwish-Sayed M, Balbaa SI, Afifi MS. The glycosidal content of the different organs of Citrullus colocynthis. Planta Med 1974; 26: 293-8.
[24]
Lewin L. Textbook of Toxicology. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag 1962.
[25]
Appendino G, Tagliapietra S, Mario G, Picci P. Ferprenin, a prenylated coumarin from Ferula communis. Phytochemistry 1988; 27(3): 944-6.
[26]
Neinhuis C, Wanke S, Hilu KW, Muller K, Borsch T. Phylogeny of Aristolochiaceae based on parsimony, likelihood, and Bayesian analyses of trnL-trnF sequences. Plant Syst Evol 2005; 250: 12-26.
[27]
Debelle FD, Nortier JL, De Prez EG. Aristolochic acids induce chronic renal failure with interstitial firosis in saltdepleted rats. J Am Soc Nephrol 2002; 13(2): 431-6.
[28]
Hare CPK. Indian Medicinal Plants (An illustrated dictionary). New York: Springer-Verlag 2007.
[29]
Dzoyem JP, Kuete V, Eloff JN. Biochemical parameters in toxicological studies in Africa: Significance, principle of methods, data interpretation, and use in plant screenings Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants. London: Elsevier 2014.
[30]
George E, Ronald JT. Toxic plants of North America. 2nd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons 2013.
[31]
Li-Saw-Hee FL, Lip GY. Digoxin revisited. Q J Med 1998; 91(4): 259-64.
[32]
Hegnauer R. Chemotaxonomy of plants. Stuttgart: Wiley 1969.
[33]
Kubitzki K, Rohwer G, Bittrich V. The families and genera of vascular plants. Berlin: Springer-Verlag 1993.
[34]
Heinrich M, Chan J, Wanke S, Neinhuis C, Simmonds MS. Local uses of Aristolochia species and content of nephrotoxic aristolochic acid 1 and 2-a global assessment based on bibliographic sources. J Ethnopharmacol 2009; 125(1): 10844.
[35]
Janick J, Whipkey A. Trends in new crops and new uses. Alexandria: ASHS Press 2002.
[36]
Durrington PN, Mackness B, Mackness MI. Paraoxonase and atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2001; 21: 473-80.
[37]
Zhao M, Gao X, Wang J, He X, Han B. A review of the most economically important poisonous plants to the livestock industry on temperate grasslands of China. J Appl Toxicol 2013; 33(1): 9-17.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
68
2
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy