Study on acute toxicity and subacute toxicity of ethanol extract of Ajania purpurea C. Shih

Abstract Background: Ajania purpurea. C. Shih commonly used in traditional Tibetan medicine. It is known for its therapeutic effects on conditions like lung heat, pharyngitis, and thoracic empyema. Toxicity evaluation includes acute toxicity test, subacute toxicity test, subchronic toxicity test, reproductive and developmental toxicity test, etc. Toxicity test is one of the important indicators to determine its safety.Methods: To assess the acute and subacute toxicity of ethanol extract from A. Prpurea.whole plant (EAP), both mice and rats were used to conduct acute and subacute toxicity experiments. Mice were administered a one-time dose of A. purpurea ethanol extract at 2000 mg/kg in acute toxicity study. In subacute toxicity experiments, doses of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and 800 mg/kg were administered for 28 consecutive days. The behavior, body weight, organ coefficient, complete blood cell count, blood biochemistry and histopathological section were observed.Results: In the subacute toxicity experiment, SD rats were orally administered A. Prpurea. ethanol extract for a continuous period of 28 days at doses of 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and 800 mg/kg respectively. The animals' behavior, body weight, organ coefficients, blood biochemical parameters, complete blood count and histopathological changes were observed. The results showed that compared to the control group, the rats treated with 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg of Ajania purpurea.C. Shih extract exhibited highly significant differences in blood biochemical liver function, and noticeable pathological changes in organ tissues.Disscussion: Based on the overall experimental results, this study found that A. Prpurea. exhibited no toxicity in terms of acute toxicity.