Acute oral toxicity study in rats with Mucuna pruriens seed extract

Acute oral toxicity of Mucuna pruriens seeds extract was assessed in Wistar rats with a single high dose of the extract at 2000 mg/Kg body weight. Mortality/viability and clinical signs were recorded on test day 0 (prior to administration), test days 7, 14 and at death. Rats showed dullness during first 30 min and 1 h and piloerection at 2, 3, 4 h of observation period on day 0 of administration. All animals appeared normal from day one to throughout the experimental procedure. The seed extract is non toxic to rats and helped in weight gain with LD50> 2000 mg/Kg body weight. Additionally, it acted as neuro- suppressant. Thus it can be used as a drug in treatment of neurological disorders characterized by hyper activity of the neurons. To summarize, the results of this study collectively specify that oral administration of Mucuna pruriens is not connected with any toxicologically significant effects and the data could provide satisfactory preclinical evidence of safety to launch a clinical trial on a standardized formulation of the plant extracts.

Author(s): Acharya Bal Krishna, Hemanth Kumar Manikyam, Vinay K. Sharma and Niti Sharma*

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