A 90-Day Oral Toxicity Study of the Ethanol Extract from Eupatorium japonicum Thunb and Foeniculum vulgare in Rats

Abstract

Eupatorium japonicum Thunb and Foeniculum vulgare are two of the most widely used folk herbs and constituents in many traditional Chinese herbal formulas. Nonetheless, little toxicological and safety information associated with following daily repeated exposure is obtained according to previous research. The present study was performed to assess the toxicity of ethanol extract from Eupatorium japonicum Thunb and Foeniculum vulgare (EFE) in male rats administered by dietary oral gavage at target doses of 0.39, 0.78, and 1.56 g/kg body weight/day for 90 days. There were no significant adverse effects on clinical signs, body weight, food conversion efficiency, and vital hematological indices. However, some hematology and biochemical indices such as WCV, MCH, MCHC, LY, MPV, T-CHO, as well as TG revealed significant changes in Sprague-Dawley rats and organ weights in lung and spleen showed diminished in male rats. Necropsy and histopathology findings suggested that no significant differences in absolute weights were found in all organs except lung and spleen, and no treatment-related alteration was identified in any organs. All results obtained in the present study indicated that the proper use of EFE in traditional medicine at oral dosages up to 1.56 g/kg/day body weight may harbor no prolonged toxicity to rats. However, further studies of EFE are still necessary to assess its oral safety in patients.