Evaluation of chronic toxicity of Kushta Sammulfar (calx of Arsenic trioxide)

Abstract

<em>Sammulfar</em> (arsenic trioxide) is a notorious poison and has extensively been studied for its toxicity. It is in use for various purposes for centuries and is used even today as a therapeutic agent in the form of <em>kushta</em> (calx) in traditional systems of medicine, particularly Unani medicine, but without apparent safety data. The present study, therefore, was conducted to produce data for prolong use of calx of arsenic trioxide. The calx (test drug) was prepared by the method described in National Formulary of Unani Medicine. The study was carried in healthy Wistar rats of either sex; weighing 150-250 g; 2-3 months of age, in a dose dependent manner, following the methods of Gupta et al. (2002), Ghosh (2008) and Klaassan (2008). The animals were divided into four groups of 10 animals each. Group I served as control, where as group II, III and IV were used for three dose levels of the test drug <em>i.e.</em> low (8.75 mg<sup>–1</sup> kg), medium (17.50 mg<sup>–1</sup> kg) and higher (26.25 mg<sup>–1</sup> kg). Standard parameters usually applied for chronic toxicity studies were considered. The study revealed dose dependent toxicity. Usual signs of chronic toxicity were observed during the study. Low dose of <em>Kushta Sammulfar </em>(KSF) did not produce remarkable toxic effects. Mild to moderate toxicity was seen in KSF-II and KSF-III.