Safety assessment of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma: acute and subacute oral toxicity

Jia Liu; Xin Ping; Shu-Jie Sun; Jiali Yang; Ye Lu; Lin Pei

doi:10.3389/fphar.2024.1377876

Safety assessment of Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma: acute and subacute oral toxicity

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Mar 19:15:1377876. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1377876. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Jia Liu^#^{1

2

3}, Xin Ping^#^{1

2

3}, Shu-Jie Sun¹, Jiali Yang¹, Ye Lu^{1

2

3}, Lin Pei^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Basic Medicine, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, China.
² Central Laboratory, Hebei Academy of Chinese Medicine Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China.
³ Turbidity and Toxicity Laboratory, Hebei Key Laboratory of Turbidity, Shijiazhuang, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Introduction: Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (ATR) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is used for treating neuropathic diseases. However, there is little information about the safety of ATR. Methods: The present study evaluated the acute and subacute oral toxicity of a water extract of ATR in Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) mice. In acute trials, a single administration of extract at a dose 5,000 mg/kg body weight led to no clinical signs of toxicity or mortality, indicating that the lethal dose (LD50) exceeded 5,000 mg/kg. A subacute toxicity test was done using daily doses of 1,250, 2,500, and 5,000 mg/kg of the ATR extract for 28 days, which did not show any adverse clinical symptoms or mortality. However, the male renal organ index and urea level in mice given 5,000 mg/kg was obviously abnormal, which was consistent with pathological results and suggested that this dose might cause kidney injury. Results: Doses of ATR lower than 2,500 mg/kg could be regarded as safe, although the potential cumulative effects of long-term use of high doses of ATR need to be considered. Discussion: The study highlights the function of ATR in reducing blood lipids and provides a new idea for its widespread clinical use in the future.

Keywords: Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma; acute toxicity; general behavior; hematology; histopathology; serum biochemistry; subacute toxicity.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China Funding Project: LP National Prestigious Chinese Physicians Inheritance Studio [State TCM Human Education Letter (2022) No. 75]. LP is the recipient of the funding awards. Hebei Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Funding Project (Nos. 2022112 to XP; Nos. 2022113 to JL), and Hebei Province Graduate Innovation Funding Project (Nos. XCXZZBS2023011 to JL). Hebei Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Funding Project (Nos.2024075 to YL).