Acute and Chronic Toxicity Study of Benjathiposoth Extract

Abstract

A Thai traditional medicine called Benjathiposoth has been reported to possess hypotensive activity. The recipe for preparing medication contains 10 types of herbal materials. An acute toxicity study in mice by gavaging the ethanolic extract of Benjathiposoth at single doses of 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 g/kg showed that the extract produced neither abnormal signs nor mortality and its LD50 value was more than 10.0 g/kg, which is approximately 1,000 times greater than the human therapeutic dose. The oral six-month chronic toxicity study of the extract was investigated in 144 Wistar rats divided into six groups (each of 12 per sex). Groups 1 and 2 were control groups given with distilled water orally and 1.0% tragacanth solution respectively. Groups 3 to 6 were experimental groups administered orally extract of Benjathiposoth at doses of 10, 100, 500 and 500 mg/kg/day. After six months, the last group (500-R) was further raised without the extract for two weeks in
order to assess reversibility of any adverse effects. The results revealed that the Benjathiposoth extract did not affect growth, food intake, health and behaviors of the test animals. The extract at the doses given caused no significant differences in any hematological parameters between the treatment and control groups. Clinical chemistry assays revealed a significant increase in total serum protein in the female group treated with the highest dose of the extract, which was still within the reference interval of normal rats, whereas other parameters
showed no significant deviation from the controls. Histopathology of various visceral organs showed that the male groups receiving the extract at 100 mg/kg and higher have a higher incidence of fatty liver. Moreover, these male groups as well as the 500-R group, had higher incidence of kidney congestion when compared with their corresponding control groups. Nevertheless, no pathological change was found in glomerular and tubular kidneys. The incidence of histopathological findings in some organs did not show any dose dependency; therefore, it was considered as not having been contributed by the extract. In summary, the extract of Benjathiposoth produced no serious acute or chronic toxicity in experimental animals.