Study on chronic toxicity of rhubarb extract in Sprague-Dawley rats

Wenxiang Yang; Ji Liu; Yanhua Zheng; Jingjing Qu; Xiaoqiao Tang; Hong Bai; Chunxia Liu; Bolin Fan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10907

Study on chronic toxicity of rhubarb extract in Sprague-Dawley rats

Heliyon. 2022 Oct 4;8(10):e10907. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10907. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Wenxiang Yang¹, Ji Liu², Yanhua Zheng¹, Jingjing Qu¹, Xiaoqiao Tang¹, Hong Bai², Chunxia Liu¹, Bolin Fan¹

Affiliations

¹ Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Applied Toxicology, Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan 430079, China.
² Center for Food Evaluation, State Administration for Market Regulation, Beijing 10070, China.

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of rhubarb extract.

Methods: SD rats were treated with rhubarb extract at 0, 101, 405 and 1620 mg/kg/day for 52 weeks. food consumption and body weights were recorded. Blood and urine samples were collected for serum biochemical evaluation and urinalysis, and organ tissues were collected for histopathological examination.

Results: The rats of 1620 mg/kg group developed diarrhea symptoms with dark brown loose stool after exposure; decreased body weight and increased food consumption were observed in the 1620 mg/kg and 405 mg/kg groups; urine WBC and NIT was significantly increased in the male and female rats of 1620 mg/kg group, and the urine pH was decreased in male rats of 1620 mg/kg group; renal tubular pigmentation was observed in the 1620 mg/kg group.

Conclusion: The NOAEL of rhubarb extract on chronic toxicity (52 weeks) of Sprague-Dawley rats was 101 mg/kg in female and 94 mg/kg in male, and the LOAEL was 408 mg/kg in female and 381 mg/kg in male. The target organ of toxicity was the kidney, and the target cells was tubular epithelial cells.

Keywords: Chronic toxicity; Rhubarb extract; Sprague-Dawley rats.