Abstract
Background: The growing climatic condition affects plant constituents and biological activities. Ochradenus baccatus (Taily Weed) from Resedaceae family is a perennial shrub that is widely used in folk medicine in the Middle East. Aim: From the viewpoint that O. baccatus is regularly used in folk medicine, this study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and investigate the effect of O. baccatus on the biochemical and histopathological parameters of liver and kidney in experimental animals. Methods: The O. baccatus extracts were obtained by hot continuous extraction method. Agar diffusion and minimal inhibitory concentration assays were used for the antimicrobial activity. O. baccatus total extracts at doses of 100 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg were given to the first and second groups of rates, respectively, whereas the third and fourth groups received the vehicle olive oil and saline, respectively. The liver and kidney functions, as well as lipid profile and glucose levels, were measured by spectrophotometric technique on obtained blood samples. The liver and kidney tissues were evaluated for histopathological effect. Results: Ethanol and ethyl acetate extracts have similarly and potentially inhibited the bacterial micro-organisms, whereas Candida albicans was inhibited by n-hexane extract. O. baccatus total extract showed no significant effects on the kidney and liver functions (P > 0.05). However, it significantly reduced triglyceride level (P = 0.04). The histopathological investigation of liver and kidney tissues revealed no significant differences compared to control animals. Conclusion: The medicinally important plant, O. baccatus, growing in Saudi Arabia showed no significant toxic effects on the livers and kidneys. Moreover, it demonstrated a potential antimicrobial activity besides a significant reduction in serum triglycerides in rats. These findings are in consistent with other reported results suggesting no environmental effects on the safety of this plant.