A 90 Day Repeated Dose-Oral Toxicity Study of Extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-Aboveground Parts in Rats

Abstract

: Pharmacological studies and clinical practices have indicated that Radix Astragali, a dried root of Astragalus membranaceus possesses a lot of biological activities, including antioxidant, hepatoprotective, anti-diabetic, tonic, diuretic, antimicrobial, antiviral, and immunological activities. These biological activities approved by the modern pharmacological studies are mainly due to the constituents of Astragalus membranaceus including polysaccharides, saponins, flavonoids, amino acids, and trace elements. In resent, the main constituents in the root part showing a lot of biological activities has been isolated also from the aboveground parts such as leaves and sprouts in our laboratory. However, the safety evaluation for the aboveground parts of Astragalus membranaceus should be checked before expanding their application as one of food. In the study, a 90-day rat oral gavage study has been conducted with the extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-aboveground parts at doses of 1000, 3000, and 5000 ㎎/㎏/day. The following endpoints were evaluated: clinical observations, body weight, gross and microscopic pathology, clinical chemistry, and hematology. Based on the analysis of these endpoints, it was estimated that NOEL (no observed effect level) for male rats and NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) for female rats are 5000 ㎎/㎏/day of the water-extracts from Astragalus membranaceus-aboveground parts.

Genotoxicity Study of Polysaccharide Fraction from Astragalus membranaceus's Aerial Parts

“…And the LD 50 of Astragalus in mice was determined to be approximately 40 g/kg when administered by intraperitoneal injection (18) . Also, the aerial parts of A. membranaceus was proved to be as safe as the root through a 90-day oral toxicity study in rats (9) . In a series of safety evaluation for the aerial parts of A. membranaceus , a genotoxicity test was carried out in this study to check the mutagenisity.…”

“…However, they should be safe even though the aerial parts of A. membranaceus are valuable as a functional material. In our previous study of repeated dose 90-day oral toxicity test for the polysaccharide fraction from Astragalus membranaceus’s aerial parts, it was estimated that NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) for rats are 5000 mg/kg/day of the water-extracts from A. membranaceus -aerial parts (9) . This NOAEL is a dose 30~40 times as high as the effective oral dose in humans.…”

Cellular Morphology and Transcriptome Comparative Analysis of Astragalus membranaceus Bunge Sprouts Cultured In Vitro under Different LED Light

“…A representative component contained in A. membranaceus is formononetin, an isoflavone glycoside, which as a phytoestrogen is established to be a natural substitute for female hormones [5]. In addition, saponins, flavonoids, amino acids, trace elements, and polysaccharides have been reported as major biologically active constituents of A. membranaceus [6].…”