फार्माकोविजिलेंस जर्नल

अमूर्त

Laboratory-Based Safety Assessment Tests of Some Nigerian Commercial Herbal Products

Raymond I Ozolua and Dickson O Uwaya

Introduction: Herbal medicines are becoming increasingly popular for many reasons one of which is the belief in their safety. Nonetheless, prior to their listing/registration, safety evaluation is a requirement by national regulatory agencies and the World Health Organization.

Materials and Methods: Four commercial polyherbal products were screened for acute and sub-acute toxicity. Acute toxicity tests involved determination of LD50 and observing rats and mice for gross toxicological symptoms. Groups of rats were administered 2 g/kg/day of the polyherbal products for 28 days at the end of which some hematological and biochemical indices were evaluated.

Results: The dose of 8 g/kg of each herbal product did not cause death in the animals suggesting much higher LD50 values. The hematological and biochemical indices were largely normal except for decrease in serum sodium or potassium in two of the products.

Conclusions: These polyherbal products appear safe in rats and mice but further studies are required to assess safety in humans. The procedures in this study may be adopted as a mandatory first step in the safety screening of herbal products.