Toxicological Evaluation of ‘Shake’, A Herbal Snuff Widely Abused Amongst Youths in Northern Nigeria

Traditional use of ‘Shake’, a herbal snuff concoction, has recently become very popular in northern Nigeria. Despite their widespread patronage, in disguise as medicines, reports on their safety are scanty. This study aims to investigate the short term or acute (48 hours) and long-term sub-acute (28-day) toxic effects of ‘Shake’ herbal concoctions, in albino rats following OECD guidelines. Utilizing 100, 200 and 400 mgKg-1BW doses of the most popular brand (Hajiya Salma), biochemical and haematological parameters of rats were bioassayed. After euthanasia, histological investigations of harvested body organs (brain, liver, and kidney) of rats were conducted. At the end of the study, up to 5000 mgKg-1BW dose, no death of animal was recorded in the acute toxicity test. Haematological assay revealed significantly lower RBC, HGB and HCT levels in all treatment groups compared to control (p<0.05), while PLT was significantly lower in only rats treated with 400mg/kg (p<0.05). Conversely, levels of NEUT in all treatment groups, were significantly higher than the control (p<0.05) while MXD% was significantly higher in only 400mg/kg treatment group (p<0.05). At all treatment doses creatinine levels of rats were found to be significantly higher than the control (p<0.05) and no changes were seen in the histo-pathological analysis of the brain, liver and kidney. These results revealed that oral administration of ‘Shake’ herbal concoction is unlikely to cause fatal acute poisoning. However, sub-acute toxicity reports, which showed decreased RBC, HGB, and HCT levels with a corresponding increase in white blood cells, could directly translate into anaemia and, consequently, compromised immune state. Furthermore, increased creatinine level seen indicates a possible damage to the kidney. Thus, the use ‘Shake’ herbal concoction carries the potential to causes serious damage to the body.