Acute and Subchronic Toxicity Profile of a Polyherbal Drug Used in Sri Lankan Traditional Medicine

Abstract

A polyherbal drug composed of leaves of Murraya koenigii L. Spreng, cloves of Allium sativum L., fruits of Garcinia quaesita Pierre, and seeds of Piper nigrum L. is a popular drug which has been used by indigenous practitioners in Sri Lanka for the treatment of diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. The acute toxicity assessment was conducted, following a single oral dose of 0.25–2.0 g/kg in healthy rats, and rats were observed up to 14 days. The hot water extract (1.0 g/kg) and the water : acetone extract (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g/kg) were administered to Wistar rats for 28 days in the subchronic study. Hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic activities (dose response studies) of cold water, hot water, and water : acetone extracts of the polyherbal mixture were evaluated at the doses of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 g/kg in healthy and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (70 mg/kg, ip), respectively. Acute toxicity study showed that the polyherbal drug did not cause any change in animals throughout the experimental period of 14 days. The administration of the hot water extract and the water : acetone extract of the polyherbal drug for 28 days did not produce changes in the selected biochemical and hematological parameters in Wistar rats (p > 0.05). The histological assessment corroborated the biochemical findings with no significant treatment-related changes in the kidney and liver. The treatment of polyherbal drug significantly lowered the serum glucose concentration compared to the diabetic control rats (p < 0.05) while it did not lead to a severe reduction of glucose concentration in healthy rats. The hot water and water : acetone extracts of the polyherbal drug showed a statistically significant improvement on total area under the glucose tolerance curve in diabetic rats (p < 0.05), reflecting dose-dependent antihyperglycemic effects of the drug. Based on the results, we conclude that the aforementioned antidiabetic polyherbal remedy is free of toxic/adverse effects at the equivalent human therapeutic dose in healthy Wistar rats and would be a safe therapeutic agent for long-term treatments.

Therapeutic Potential of Selected Medicinal Plants Against Carrageenan Induced Inflammation in Rats

“…47 High level of liver biomarkers is a valid indicator of liver damage. 48 The administration of plants extract for 28 days did not cause any noxious effect on liver and liver biomarkers as compared to the untreated group. The little alteration has no clinical importance because values recorded are within the normal range.…”

Subacute Oral Toxicity Studies of Pankajakasthuri Orthoherb Tablets Formulated for Managing Pain and Inflammation of Joints

“…Continuous use of these plant-based therapeutic agents in humans may result in chronic adverse/toxic effects, primarily renal and hepatic toxicities. Emerging evidence suggests that taking certain plant remedies used in traditional medicine on a regular basis may have negative effects, particularly at higher doses than the therapeutic dose (Liyanagamage et al, 2020). As a result, the current study aims to assess the toxicity profile of this polyherbal formulation in Wistar albino rats.…”

Prenatal developmental toxicity study of herbal tea of Moringa stenopetala and Mentha spicata leaves formulation in Wistar rats

“…Nowadays, herbal formulations have gained widespread acceptance because it has been proven that herbal blends containing two or more distinct herbs generate better therapeutic results than individual herbs [25] , [26] . Such polyherbal materials are commonly prepared and used for the treatment of a variety of chronic diseases, including kidney failure [27] , hypertension [28] , and diabetes mellitus [29] . The herbal formulation prepared from the blended leaves of M. stenopetala (a primary/main therapeutic herb) and M. spicata (a secondary/supportive herb) exhibited better diuretic and antihyperglycemic activities than the primary herb ( M. stenopetala ) and the other herbal formulations, including the blended leaves of M. stenopetala and Cymbopogon citratus as well as the M. stenopetala and Thymus serrulatus blends.…”