Acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies of the extract of Thunberg Fritillary Bulb

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute and sub-chronic toxicity of extract of Thunberg Fritillary Bulb. For the acute toxicity tests, graded doses of the extract were administered orally to mice. The animals were observed for toxic symptoms and mortality daily for 14days. In the sub-chronic toxicity study, rats were orally administered the extract at doses of 1 and 3mg/kg body weight (BW) for 26weeks. After 26weeks, the rats were sacrificed for hematological, biochemical and histological examination. In the acute toxicity tests, the estimated median lethal dosage (LD50) was 52.2mg/kg body weight in the mice. In the sub-chronic toxicity tests, a dose of 1mg/kg body weight presented no toxicity. Above the 1mg/kg dose, the main adverse signs observed in male rats were body or head tremor and spontaneous motor activity reduction. There were no other significant changes observed in hematology, blood biochemistry, organ weight and organ histology. The overall findings of this study indicate that the extract of Thunberg Fritillary Bulb is non-toxic up to 1mg/kg body weight, which can be considered a safe application dose.