Acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies of methanol extract of

Background: The safety potential of the methanol extract of Methods: The animals were managed following the National Institute of Health (NIH) stipulated protocols for handling laboratory animals. The weight of each animal was recorded upon arrival and monitored throughout the study. The animals were allowed to acclimatize for 14 days, after which they were reweighed and randomly distributed into four groups of three female rats (n=12) for acute toxicity studies. Group A was given distilled water, and Groups B, C, and D were given a single dose of 2000, 4000, and 5000 mg/kg bw TOM extract, respectively. On day 15, each animal was anaesthetized and then euthanized. For the sub-chronic toxicity study, animals were randomly distributed into five groups of eight female rats (n=40). They were dosed daily for 28 days. Group A (Negative control group) was given distilled water. Groups B, C, and D had 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg bw TOM extract and Group E (Vehicle control group) were given 0.25 % of sodium carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC). Five animals were anaesthetized and then euthanized on day 29, while three animals were kept for recovery evaluation for another two weeks without further administration of the extract. Ten organs were excised from each animal and weighed. The liver and kidney were processed for histopathological studies, while the blood samples were collected for biochemical and haematological assays. Results: From acute toxicity studies, the LD Conclusion: This study reports the safety dose of TOM, a reputable medicinal plant extract. This is the first study reporting that the LD