EVALUATION OF ACUTE AND SUBCHRONIC TOXICITY OF POLYHERBAL FORMULATIONS OF SHREE DHANWANTRI HERBALS IN WISTAR RATS

Plants have been utilized as medicine since the ancient period, and they are at the basis of much of modern medicine. Plants provide the basis for many conventional medications and the majority of the few successful drugs. Herbal formulations are becoming increasingly popular nowadays. But in some cases, side effects of the herbal formulations have been reported. So, according to the AYUSH ministry, herbal formulations should also be evaluated for toxicity to determine their safe dose. This study aims to critically assess the scientific evidence for herbal formulations’ acute and subchronic toxicity. Six herbal formulations of Shree Dhanwantri Herbals were tested for toxicity in rats. An acute and subchronic toxicity study was conducted on Wistar rats following OECD-423 and OECD-408 guidelines, respectively. No mortality or abnormal behavior was observed in the acute toxicity studies. In the sub-chronic toxicity study, testing formulations did not produce any significant changes in rats’ behavior compared to the control group. Further, hematological and biochemical parameters were also found normal. Histopathological analysis revealed that treated animals’ brain, lung, heart, kidney, liver, and spleen were not affected. A critical analysis of results points out that all herbal formulations under study produced no significant signs of toxicity.