Sub-Acute Toxicity Study of Calotropis gigantea Latex Extracts in Male Swiss Albino Mice.
Medicinal plants offer unlimited opportunities for the discovery of new drugs in biomedical field. Most of the natural products used in folk remedy have scientific evidences with regard to their biological activities. However, there is little evidence available concerning the possible toxicity those drugs or products from medicinal plants may cause to the consumers. The traditional use of any plant for medicinal purposes requires guarantees for the safety of such plant.
Herbal medicines are usually complex mixtures of many bioactive compounds. Herbal medicines may differ from single-agent pharmaceuticals, phytomedicines due to the different mechanisms of action of their bioactive constituents. This is also reflected in their dose-response relationships and in synergistic/combinatorial effects. Pharmacological investigations have established their rising relevance in search of more reliable herbal drugs free of any side effects.
Different types of interactions can arise whenever a chemical substance or drug administered to a biological system and a series of dose-related responses can occur. Thus, to identify potential health hazards before the drugs are administered to man, toxicity testing in animals is usually done
on new drugs with doses well above the expected therapeutic range. Toxicity studies include a wide range of tests in different species with regular monitoring for biochemical or physiological anomalies seen in long-term administration of the drug. Administration of a single dose or multiple doses in a period not beyond 24 hours, up to a limit of 2000 mg/kg produces acute toxicity.
Toxicol Forensic Med Open J. 2016; 1(2): 54-64. doi: 10.17140/TFMOJ-1-109
