Introduction
The Mimosa pudica plant has been traditionally used as an anesthetic, antidepressant, sedative, antialopecic, among other pharmacological properties. However, in recent years its use has intensified as an object of abuse. In order to know the toxic and addictive potential of this plant, a Subchronic Toxicity Study and the Spontaneous Abstinence Assay, respectively, were developed in mice of the NMRI line; conducted by a group of students from the Center for Toxicology and Biomedicine (TOXIMED), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.
Toxicity Test
Clinical signs: The trial concluded with a 100% survival rate. Signs of generalized piloerection and semi-soft stools were observed in the treated animals during the first 7 days of administration. The remaining 21 days they maintained a normal behavior, with normal postural reflex, hygiene habits and usual response to stimuli. This is an important indicator, since modifications of this clinical picture is a manifestation of possible anatomophysiological alterations produced by the toxic action of a substance, and that depends on the severity and extension of the lesion, as well as on the systems of organs involved, duration of exposure, total amount of the substance in blood, age and general health of the animal.
Body Weight Behavior
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Analysis: Body weight constitutes one of the most important parameters within a toxicological study, since alterations in it are a sensitive indicator of the toxicity caused by a chemical compound.
In the case of the comparison of the weights of the animals between the test groups, it can be observed that in males there are significant differences (p < 0.05) between the control and the experimental and satellite groups, while in the case of females the significant differences existed between the control and the experimental group. However, it should be noted that the satellite group does not present statistically significant differences due to the fact that it started the study (day 0) with a higher average body weight than the other two groups.
Spontaneous Abstinence Trial
Once the spontaneous abstinence trial was carried out, 100% survival of the animals under study was recorded. As can be seen in Table 6, the groups of animals treated with the decoction of the Mimosa pudica plant and the positive control with Morphine showed signs of piloerection and drowsiness. On the other hand, once the administration period was finished, signs of hyperactivity were evidenced in these groups.
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Analysis: The results obtained in this study showed in the morphine-positive control group, as expected, a hyperactive behavior, during the period of abstinence. These symptoms have been described by several authors who have deepened their molecular action mechanisms. After stopping or decreasing morphine consumption, withdrawal symptoms begin to appear.
When analyzing the behavior of the animals treated with Mimosa pudica, it is interesting to highlight that even though this plant has been reported as a sedative, action corroborated at the beginning of the study in the treated animals, once the treatment with the decoction of the plant ceased, their behavior changed towards an evident hyperactivity. There are substances such as alcohol and benzodiazepines that are characterized by presenting similar symptoms in their withdrawal syndrome.
Body Weight Evaluation
Figure 2 allows the evaluation of behavior of the body weight of the animals treated with the plant decoction and the positive control with morphine at the beginning of the study, then the last 3 days of treatment and the 8 days following the cessation of administration. It can be observed that with respect to the control there is a significant difference in the daily weight of these groups, resulting statistically significant (p<0.05). As can be seen in both groups there is a decrease on the first day of abstinence, this difference becomes less from 2-3 days after the cessation of treatment.
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Analysis: The behavior observed for the positive control with morphine is characteristic of this substance, while in the case of the Mimosa pudica plant it corresponds to that obtained in the toxicity test.
Conclusions
The results obtained in this study suggest that the Mimosa pudica plant at the concentration used and administered orally is capable of producing alterations in body weight, as well as in biochemical and anatomopathological variables, which show the toxic potential of this plant. On the other hand, there is a slight physical dependence to the prolonged consumption of Mimosa pudica plant, which turned out to be lower than the one shown by the morphine positive control group, and similar in behavior to the one reported by substances with sedative pharmacological action.