Studies of the Toxicological Potential of Capsinoids: III. A Two-Generation Reproduction Study of CH-19 Sweet Extract in Rats

Abstract

CH-19 Sweet extract, containing 66.5 to 75.05 mg/ml capsinoids, was administered once daily by gavage, to two generations of male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, at dose levels of 0 (vehicle), 1.25, 2.5, and 5.0 ml/kg/day (83.13 to 93.81, 166.25 to 187.63, and 332.50 to 375.25 mg/kg as capsinoids, respectively) in order to determine its potential reproductive effects. In the first generation (F(0)) males and females, there were no test substance-related deaths, toxic changes, gross pathological findings, or adverse findings in clinical signs, body weight, or food consumption. There were no test substance-related effects on estrous cycles, copulation index, days required for copulation, fertility index, number of implantations, gestation period, number of liveborn pups, delivery index, stillbirth index, livebirth index, or lactation or nursing. In the second generation (F(1)), there were no test substance-related changes observed in clinical signs, body weights, sex ratios at birth, external abnormalities, differences in survival at any point from birth to weaning, and no deaths after weaning. There were no changes suggestive of adverse test substance-induced effects on body weight, food consumption, or external differentiation after birth, and there was no test substance-related damage on sensory/reflex functions. As with the first generation, there were no test substance-related effects on reproductive indices, in the offspring, no untoward effects on development, viability during the lactation period, body weight, external differentiation, or sensory/reflex functions, and there were no gross morphological abnormalities. Based on these results, the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of CH-19 Sweet extract on the reproductive function and growth of offspring in this two generation study was judged to be 5.0 ml/kg/day (332.50 to 375.25 mg/kg as capsinoids).