Evaluation of the toxicological properties and hepatoprotective effects of PAI-N002, a mixture of herbal extracts, in rats

Abstract

The short-term toxicity of PAI-N002, a mixture of Schizandra chinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, Artemisia capillaris, and Coriolus versicolor extracts (1 : 1 : 1 : 1), was evaluated in rats. This study also investigated the protective effect of PAI-N002 on liver injury induced by the co-administration of ethanol and carbon tetrachloride (EC) in rats. PAI-N002 was virtually non-toxic to rats after a single oral administration, with LD50 values > 5,000 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity study showed that 2-week repeated oral dose of PAI-N002 did not cause any adverse effects on clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmoscopy, hematology, serum biochemistry, gross findings, and organ weights in rats given up to 1,000 mg/kg/day. When rats with EC-induced hepatotoxicity were treated with PAI-N002 at 250 mg/kg/day for 28 days, PAI-N002 treatment significantly improved EC-induced hepatic injury, as evidenced by the decline of serum AST and ALT activities and decreased histopathological alterations. PAI-N002 also had an antioxidant benefit by decreasing the lipid peroxidative product malondialdehyde and increasing the levels of the antioxidant glutathione and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione-S-transferase. These results indicate that the short-term treatment of rats with PAI-N002 has no harmful effects and that PAI-N002 has hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties in EC-induced chronic liver injury in rats.