Toxicity Assessment of Polygalae Radix Aqueous Extract Orally Administered to Rats for 2 Consecutive Weeks

− The objective of this study is to characterize a toxicity of Polygalae Radix (PR) in F344 rats and to find a dose levels for the 13 weeks toxicity study. PR is well known as medicinal herb in many Asian countries for treatment of expectorant, tonic, tranquillizer, antipsychotic agent and functional diet for improving memory. However, there is insufficient background information on toxicological evaluation of PR extract to support its safe use. Therefore, we conducted toxicological evaluation of this drug in compliance with OECD and KFDA guideline in this study. The extract of PR was administered orally to F344 rats at dose levels of 0, 500, 1000, 2000, 3500 and 5000 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks. Each group was composed to five male and five female rats. In the result, there were no treatment PR-related adverse changes in food consumption, hematology, clinical chemistry, urinalysis, gross finding at necropsy, organ weight examination. Four males at 5000 mg/kg/day were found dead during the treatment period. These animals showed salivation. The cause of death is still under investigation. The animals treated at 500, 1000, 2000, 3500 and 5000 mg/kg/day showed salivation and all animals at 5000 mg/kg/day exhibited lower body weight and cumulative weight gain in compared to those of control animals. Therefore, we recommend that a dose group of 3500 mg/ kg/day is a highest treatment group in 13-week exposure study.