Preclinical Toxicological Evaluation of Sharbat-e-Toot Siyah, a Traditional Morus nigra L. Based Unani Syrup

Background

Sharbat-e-Toot Siyah (STS) is a herbal Unani syrup that is traditionally used for the treatment of Waram-e-Lauzatain (Tonsilitis), Warm-e-Hanjara (Laryngitis), Sual (Cough) and Nazla (Catarrh). To investigate the toxicity of STS in rats after both acute and 28-day repeated oral doses.

Materials and Methods

The acute toxicity was tested at a limit dose of 20 mL/kg bw using female rats. For repeated dose toxicity the rats were assigned into 04 groups, each including 05 animals of each sex. STS was given orally at dosages of 2, 4, and 10 mL/kg bw daily, whereas the control group was given a vehicle alone.

Results

Administering oral STS for twenty eight days to both male and female rats did not cause any treatment-related adverse effects on survival. There were relatively slight, non-toxicologically significant differences from controls in terms of haematological, biochemical, body weight, food consumption, and proportional organ weights. With the exception of modest to moderate alterations in the histology for liver and lungs.

Conclusion

The findings from the acute toxicity study showed that the oral LD₅₀ of STS in female SD rats was higher than 20 mL/kg bw. The results of the repeated dosage trial confirmed that, as compared to controls, STS had no toxicologically significant effects on body weight, feed consumption, behaviour, haematological and biochemical markers, or relative organ weights at any tested dose. Under the conditions of this study, STS exhibited a favorable safety profile and did not produce any treatment-related adverse or toxic effects at the tested doses.