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Life sciences · Journal article
Journal of Pharmacy · July 31, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This is an exploratory in vitro and animal study showing that methanol extract of Alchornea cordifolia leaf possesses antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal strains, exhibits dose-dependent antioxidant activity in DPPH assay, and was not acutely toxic in rats at doses up to 5000 mg/kg. The work is preliminary; it does not establish clinical efficacy, identify active compounds, or provide comparison to standard antimicrobial or antioxidant agents, and thus cannot inform clinical practice.
In vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant assays combined with uncontrolled animal acute toxicity model. For antimicrobial testing: eleven bacterial strains and a fungal strain (species not detailed). For toxicity: laboratory rats, five groups of six animals each.. Intervention: Methanol extract of Alchornea cordifolia leaf at concentrations ranging from 3.125 to 500 µg/mL (antioxidant) and up to 5000 mg/kg (acute toxicity). Compared with: Ascorbic acid (for antioxidant activity comparison at higher concentrations); no antimicrobial comparator specified.
MIC values ranged from 3.125 mg/mL to 12.5 mg/mL and MBC values from 50 mg/mL to 100 mg/mL against tested bacterial strains Extract exhibited antioxidant scavenging activity of 93.59±0.27% at 500 µg/mL concentration, comparable to ascorbic acid at higher concentrations Acute toxicity study in rats (n=6 per group, five groups) confirmed safety of extract up to 5000 mg/kg with no observed toxicity
Animal acute toxicity only; chronic toxicity, mutagenicity, and human safety data absent Acute toxicity study in rats (n=6 per group, five groups) confirmed safety of extract up to 5000 mg/kg with no observed toxicity
This study does not provide sufficient evidence to support clinical use. Clinicians should await identification of active compounds, comparative efficacy trials against standard antimicrobials, and human safety and efficacy data before considering Alchornea cordifolia extract for therapeutic purposes.
In vitro and animal study of a plant extract showing antimicrobial and antioxidant activity with acute safety in rodents, but lacks human efficacy data, controlled comparators, and identification of active compounds.
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Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This study does not provide sufficient evidence to support clinical use. Clinicians should await identification of active compounds, comparative efficacy trials against standard antimicrobials, and human safety and efficacy data before considering Alchornea cordifolia extract for therapeutic purposes.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Introduction: The increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance has necessitated the discovery of new therapeutic agents to fight this infectious disease and disorders associated with oxidative stress. Alchornea cordifolia is used traditionally to treat many microbial infections in Ghana. Hence, this study investigated phytochemical composition, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant property, and acute toxicity of the methanol extract of Alchornea cordifolia leaf. Methods: Phytochemical composition was determined in accordance with reference experimental protocols. The antimicrobial assays were done using eleven bacterial strains and a fungal strain. The assays were agar well diffusion, minimum inhibition concentrations (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC), and minimum fungicidal concentrations. Antioxidant property was evaluated using 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The safety profile was obtained by an acute toxicity model using rats in five groups (n=6). Results and Discussion: Phytochemical screening of the extract revealed the presence of important secondary metabolites. The MIC and MBC values ranged from 3.125 mg/mL to 12.5 mg/mL and 50 mg/mL to 100 mg/mL respectively. The extract exhibited significant antioxidant activity with the scavenging activity comparable to ascorbic acid at higher concentrations and the highest value of 93.59±0.27 % recorded at a concentration of 500 µg/mL of the extract. Acute toxicity studies confirmed the safety of the extract up to 5000 mg/kg. Conclusion: Alchornea cordifolia leaf extract can be used as both antimicrobial and antioxidant agents, the extract showed no toxicity in rats. Nevertheless, further investigation may be done to identify the exact compounds responsible for the observed biological activities.
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