Toxicological, Biochemical, and Electron Microscopic Characteristics of the Effect of Harmine Alkaloid From Peganum harmala L. Under In Vivo Conditi

ABSTRACT

Peganum harmala L. is a plant rich in β‐carboline alkaloids, especially harmine, which is widely used in folk medicine and has therapeutic and toxic effects depending on the dose. In order to determine the toxic properties of harmine, the experiment was carried out by perorally treating this substance to the animals at a dose of 20 mg/kg every day for 14 days. As a result, although the absolute liver weight was significantly increased in the harmine‐treated group compared to the control rats (4.65 g vs. 4.25 g, p  = 0.04), the relative liver weight was significantly decreased (2.96% vs. 3.55%, p  = 0.0045), likely reflecting the disproportionate increase in total body mass observed in the harmine group (157.25 g vs. 119.5 g, p  = 0.0002). Additionally, the relative weight of the cerebral hemispheres was significantly reduced, and a statistically significant increase in ALT levels was observed. In the rats treated with harmine, blood was observed in the urine in 85.72% on the first day, and nitrites and proteins were observed in 71.3%. Examination of the amounts of alkaloids in organs and samples, very high amounts of harmine were found, especially in the liver. The 97.78% decrease in harmine content when passing from the stomach to the small intestine indicates its absorption from the stomach. As the result of light and transmission electron microscopy pathological changes were detected due to harmine such as damage to the wall of the central venous vessels and sinusoids, increase in the amount of edema fluid as a result of increased vascular permeability, indistinguishability of boundaries between hepatocytes and steatosis in their cytoplasm, vacuolization, increase in the amount of lysosomes, dystrophy of some nuclei, destruction of the microvilles of bile capillaries.