Toxicological Study ofOcimum sanctumLinn Leaves: Hematological, Biochemical, and Histopathological Studies

Abstract

The present study was aimed to study the acute and subacute toxicity studies with orally administered 50% ethanolic leaves extract ofOcimum sanctumLinn (OSE). In acute toxicity tests, four groups of mice(n=6/group/sex)were orally treated with doses of 200, 600, and 2000 mg/kg, and general behavior, adverse effects, and mortality were recorded for up to 14 days. In subacute toxicity study, rats received OSE by gavage at the doses of 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg/day(n=6/group/sex)for 28 days, and biochemical, hematological, and histopathological changes in tissues (liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and testis/ovary) were determined. OSE did not produce any hazardous symptoms or death and CNS and ANS toxicities in the acute toxicity test. Subacute treatment with OSE did not show any change in body weight, food and water consumption, and hematological and biochemical profiles. In addition, no change was observed both in macroscopic and microscopic aspects of vital organs in rats. Our result showed thatOcimum sanctumextract could be safe for human use.