A Study of the Toxicity of Cat’s Claw Herbal Medicine

摘要

Detailed studies on the toxicity of cat’s claw capsules were carried out in mice through examination of possible biochemical, hematological and histopathological changes. Acute, subacute and chronic toxicity studies were undertaken by treating mice with a single dose of 150 mg kg-1 body weight for acute, 50 mg kg-1 body weight administered orally each other day for 7 days for subacute and an oral dose of 10 mg kg-1 body weight of the drug daily for 90 days for chronic toxicity studies. Hematological studies revealed a significant reduction in WBC levels (p<0.05) upon acute treatment of male and female mice as compared to the control. Biochemical studies showed significant rise in the levels of AST and ALT in acute and subacute treated mice. Hematological studies on the chronically treated male and female mice revealed no appreciable differences as compared to the control, except for a mild increase in platelet count. Biochemical studies revealed a non-significant increase in AST and ALT in the male group. Changes in key hepatic enzymes levels including aspartate aminotransferase, alanine-aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, enzyme MB of creatinine kinase, glucose, urea and creatinine and histopathological modifications (heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas) were not observed in mice treated with cat’s claw capsules. The low toxicity of cat’s claw as evidenced by key hepatic enzymes stability and organ integrity suggests a wide margin of safety for therapeutic doses of cat’s claw.