모시잎추출물의 단회 · 반복투여 독성 및 복귀돌연변이능 평가

Abstract

Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaud. has been widely cultivated in Southeast Asia area including Korea and used for disease prevention in Korea. However, safety studies have not been reported yet. In this study, we performed the single dose toxicity test, repeated dose toxicity test and bacterial reverse mutation test to evaluate the safety of 70% ethanolic extract of Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaud. (EBN). In the single dose toxicity test, EBN was orally administered to Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats at the concentrations 0, 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg for 14 days. EBN did not cause mortality and LD50 was assessed to be over 2,000 mg/kg. Similarly, SD rats were administered at doses of 0, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg for 14 days in the repeated dose toxicity test, and EBN also caused neither mortality, unusual signs of general behavior, nor significant changes in bodyweight, food intake, or organ weights. Some hematological parameters such as white blood cell, lymphocyte, and large unstained cell and serum biochemical estimates including total protein significantly changed but in a non-dose dependent manner. Other estimates were not significantly different between treatment and control groups. Moreover, EBN was negative in reverse mutation test using Salmonella Typhimurium (TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1357) and Escherichia coli (WP2uvrA) regardless of application of the metabolic activating system (S9 mix). Therefore, we suggest that EBN could be used as nontoxic material for functional food development.