Abstract
Aim: To study acute and chronic toxicity profile of Commiphora opobalsamum (CO) in rats.
Methods: Acute oral lethal effect and single oral dose toxicity of CO was determined in rats by comparison with standard control. In contrast repeated dose oral toxicity in rats were performed in four groups of rats, CO was orally administered to three groups of rats in graded doses (250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg/day) once daily for 14 daysVs standard control. The sub-acute toxicity of CO was observed on hematological, coagulation and biochemical parameters.
Results: Acute oral lethal dose of CO in rats was demonstrated to be safe and higher than the tested dose i.e., 2000 mg/kg, moreover, single oral dose toxicity revealed no symptoms of toxicity. Furthermore, sub-acute toxicological effect on hematological analysis of CO rats groups treated withgraded dosed after 14 days treatment revealed insignificant decrease in complete blood count (CBC)in contrast with the control group (p> 0.05) additionally the biochemical parameters includedanalysis of urea, creatinine, glucose; lipid profile and thyroid function markers fairly demonstrated insignificant differences utilizing the same methodology.
Conclusion: Our current explorative study strongly substantiates that the CO extract have no significantoral toxicity in rats and even the results of 14 days oral treatment indicated that there were no obvious toxic effects at the dosage of 1000 mg/kg/day. The comprehensive sub-acute toxicological effect of CO extracts on hematological and coagulation parameters and biochemical parameters included analysis of urea, creatinine, glucose; lipid profile and thyroid function markers fairly demonstrated no significant harmful outcome even after 14 days treatment with CO.