Acute and subacute toxicity study of Aucklandia lappa Decne seed oil

Chunlan Su,Tingting Li,Xue Zhang,Qin Liang,Peng Du,Xian Yang,Jia Ran,Ting Zeng

doi:10.4314/tjpr.v20i10.15

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the acute and subacute toxicity of Aucklandia lappa Decne. seed oil (ALDO) in mice and rats.Methods: A single dose of 10 g ALDO/kg was administered to Kunming mice in an acute oral toxicity experiment. Their weight and feed consumption were recorded for 14 days to observe whether they had symptoms of poisoning and mortality. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were administered 0.89, 1.77 and 3.54 g/kg for 28 days, and symptoms of poisoning and mortality were monitored daily. Body weight, feedconsumption, hematology, serum biochemical parameters, relative organ weight, and histopathology of the experimental and control groups were compared.Results: The acute oral toxicity study revealed that there was no significant difference in the macroscopic results, including mortality, feed consumption and weight growth between the group dosed with 10 g ALDO/kg (p > 0.05) and the control group. In the subacute toxicity test, SD rats had a higher weight growth rate and feed utilization after doses of 0.89 g ALDO/kg (p < 0.01). However, compared with the control group (p > 0.05), there was also no significant difference in biochemical and hematological parameters, relative organ weight, or in macroscopic and histological features of both animal types. The electrolyte concentrations of Na and Cl increased at the doses of 1.77 and 3.54 g/kg (p < 0.01).Conclusion: These results suggest that ALDO is relatively safe when administered orally to rats and provide a theoretical basis for the development of new food resources.

Highlights

Aucklandia lappa Decne. (ALD) is a type of herbal plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, which is generally grown in alpine areas [1] and is originally from India
The results showed that during the 14-day observation period, there were no any symptoms of poisoning or mortality in Kunming mice at a dose of 10 g/kg Aucklandia lappa Decne. seed oil (ALDO)
Feed consumption and weight gain were observed in the 14 days after ALDO administration, and showed no significant difference compared with the control group

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Aucklandia lappa Decne. (ALD) is a type of herbal plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, which is generally grown in alpine areas [1] and is originally from India. There have many studies on the roots and their two principal active components (costunolide and dehydrocostus lactone), while ALD seeds are primarily used for propagation; there is little known about the possible toxicity, safety, and medicinal value of ALD seeds or ALDO This experiment tested the fatty acid composition of ALDO, and the results showed that the unsaturated fatty acids included linoleic acid (72.9 %), oleic acid (15.8 %), and linolenic acid (0.204 %), comprising 89.10% of the total, and saturated fatty acids included palmitic acid (8.02 %), stearic acid (2.22 %), and peanut acid (0.281 %), with a total proportion of 10.89 %. Microscopic examination was performed for all organs including the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, thymus, adrenal glands, testes, and weight, water consumption, as well as postural ovaries from the SD rats.

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Conflict of interest