Abstract
Background
Caraway oil (CO) obtained from the fruits of Carum carvi L. (Apiaceae) is used in traditional systems of medicine for various diseases. The present study was designed to evaluate the safety profile of CO by acute and repeated dose oral toxicity as per the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines 423 and 407, respectively.
Methods
In an acute toxicity study, a single dose of CO (300 and 2000 mg/kg) was given to female Wistar rats, and the animals were observed for signs of behavioral alterations, morbidity and mortality for 14 days. Repeated dose toxicity was performed at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg for 28 days in Wistar rats. The effects of CO on food and water intake, body weight, relative organ weight, clinical biochemistry, hematological parameters and urine parameters were studied. Gross necropsy and histopathology of vital organs were carried out.
Results
A single oral dose at 300 mg/kg CO did not show any signs of toxicity and mortality, while a dose of 2000 mg/kg showed signs of mortality in one animal and some signs of toxicity in another two animals. In the repeated dose toxicity study, CO at selected dose levels did not show any significant alterations in food and water intake, body weight and relative organ weight. Administration of CO did not show any significant changes in hematological, biochemical and urine parameters and histopathology study when compared with normal control animals.
Conclusions
The CO was found to be safe at all selected dose levels in the repeated dose toxicity study in rats.
Author contributions: YK designed the study. SA carried out the experimental work. YK and SA wrote the manuscript. All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/dmpt-2019-0011).
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