RESUMEN
Medicinal plants are the primary source of medicines and main ingredients used by traditional medicine practitioners. Byrsocarpus coccineus Schum and Thonn is one of such plants that have been used in Africa to treat different ailments including augmentation of labour. The aim of this study is to determine the acute toxicity and to screen the in vivo uterotonic effects of the ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus in pregnant rat uterus. Leaves of the Byrsocarpus coccineus were collected, air dried, pounded and extracted using ethanol, ethylacetate, N-butanol and water. The extracts obtained were then used for the acute toxicity study, while the ethylacetate extract was used to assess the in vivo activity in pregnant rat uterus. Ethylacetate and aqueous leaf extracts Byrsocarpus coccineus was found to be relatively non toxic, whereas N-butanol was found to be toxic in rats and mice. Ethanol leaf extract was found to be only relatively toxic in mice. Ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus potentiated the delivery of pregnant rats on days 21 of pregnancy. The results of the abortificient effect of the ethyl acetate extract on the pregnant rats showed no significant difference between the treatment groups compared with the control (p>0.05). There was a significant increase in haemoglobin, white blood cell, platelets and aspartate aminotransferase (p<0.05). Ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus is relatively safe and was found to potentiate the delivery of pregnant rats with no significant change in hepatic and renal functions and this supports the traditional use of this plant to induce labour at terms.