Toxicological and antifertility investigations of oleanolic acid in male Vervet monkeys (chlorocebus aethiops)

Abstract

Plant extracts and herbal preparations are often marketed as natural and safe alternatives to conventional medicines for the prevention and treatment of a variety of ailments, without proof of efficacy and safety. Cardiovascular, hematopoetic, hepatic and renal impairment resulting from the use of conventional drugs is widely acknowledged. However, there is less awareness of the potential toxicity of herbal preparations and other botanicals, many of which are widely perceived by the public as being effective and harmless, and are commonly used for selfmedication without supervision. In addition, potential interactions between herbal medicines and conventional drugs may compromise with patient management. In the safety evaluation of most substances, non human primates are preferred to rodent species for preclinical animal safety studies, because of their biological similarity to humans. They are regarded to be the best metabolic models for humans in a broad range of investigations. Additionally, a disadvantage of using small animal species in toxicological testing is that they require higher doses of drugs and more frequent administrations than in larger species. In light of these considerations, vervet monkeys are used here to investigate toxicity of a plant-derived triterpene, oleanolic acid. The focus is to determine effects of different concentrations of this triterpene on the cardiovascular, hematopoetic, hepatic and renal systems.