Assessment of the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Crassocephalum rabens (Asteraceae) in rats

Pang-Kuei Hsu; Yueh-Ting Tsai; Yu-Cheng Lin; Chen-Meng Kuan

doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.12.005

Assessment of the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Crassocephalum rabens (Asteraceae) in rats

Toxicol Rep. 2021 Dec 16:9:58-63. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2021.12.005. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Pang-Kuei Hsu¹, Yueh-Ting Tsai^{1

2

3}, Yu-Cheng Lin³, Chen-Meng Kuan¹

Affiliations

¹ Greenyn Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Taichung City, 42881, Taiwan.
² Testing Center, Super Laboratory Inc., New Taipei City, 24890, Taiwan.
³ Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, 10617, Taiwan.

Abstract

This pioneering study was to assess the acute and sub-acute toxicity of the ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of Crassocephalum rabens (Asteraceae) in rats. C. rabens is a common vegetable and herb for treating inflammation-related syndromes in Taiwan. Pharmacological studies have unveiled that the extracts of C. rabens have potential to become hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, or anti-cancer agents. The toxicological effects of the aerial parts of C. rabens in rodents are still elusive. For the acute toxicity study, rats were administrated with a single dose of 5,000 mg/kg body weight (BW) and observed for 14 days in accordance with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guideline No. 420. For the sub-acute toxicity study, animals were orally treated with daily doses of 0, 416.7, 833.3, and 1,666.7 mg/kg BW for 28 days based on the OECD guideline No. 407. The toxicity of the repeated dose was observed with anthropometric, hematological, and biochemical parameters as well as histology. The mortality and critical pathological and biochemical abnormalities were not observed in the acute and/or sub-acute toxicity studies. The oral median lethal dose (LD₅₀) of the extract was greater than 5000 mg/kg BW. The no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) in male and female rats was greater than 1,666.7 mg/kg BW. As such, the extract of the aerial parts of C. rabens is considered a non-toxic substance.

Keywords: Acute toxicity; Crassocephalum rabens; Food safety; Sub-acute toxicity.