Preliminary Phytochemical screening, In vitro antioxidant activity and acute oral toxicity study of polyherbal formulation for chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is an increasing public health problem in developing countries with poor health outcomes. There is a constant demand to develop new, effective and affordable drugs for chronic kidney diseases (CKD). The Indian traditional medicinal system, Ayurveda is a valuable and alternative resource for identifying novel drugs for kidney diseases. The aim of the present study is to investigate the phytochemical screening, in vitro antioxidant activity, and in vivo acute oral toxicity study of polyherbal formulation for chronic kidney disease. All the experiments were conducted by using standard procedures. The results of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of different types of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, phenols, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, tannins, and glycosides. The antioxidant activity of the formulation was evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Rutin was used as a reference compound. The IC50 value of the formulation was found to be 7.39071 % and the standard rutin was 5.69024 %. The acute toxicity study was conducted in Wister albino rats. The formulation was administered as a single dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight. In this study, no visible behavioral changes and mortality was observed up to 2000 mg/kg body weight. We conclude that the polyherbal formulation did not exhibit any toxic effects on rats in terms of liver and renal functions, 15 days after administration. Taken together, these results provide scientific validation for the use of the polyherbal formulation as a potential treatment against chronic kidney disease. 
 Keywords: Polyherbal formulation, Ayurveda, Phytochemical screening, in vitro antioxidants, acute oral toxicity, albino rats.