ABSTRACT
Lactulose has profound health benefits by way of increasing bifidobacterial flora in the intestine of infants thereby protecting them against enteric infection, constipation and systemic encephalopathy. In the present study to assess the sub chronic toxicity of lactulose syrup, the rats were fed on a basal feed supplemented with lactulose syrup at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 5.0% for a period of 21 weeks. Monitoring of food consumption, gain in body weight and physical observations did not reveal any treatment-related toxicity in any of the group of rats. Terminal autopsy also did not reveal any signs of toxicity. Further, no significant alterations in relative organ weight, serum biochemistry and urinalysis were observed up to 1% lactulose supplementation level. The results suggest that supplementation of lactulose in the diet does not produce any toxicity at the doses tested.
Subject(s)
Administration, Oral , Animals , Blood Cell Count , Blood Chemical Analysis , Dietary Supplements/toxicity , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Lactulose/administration & dosage , Male , Organ Size/drug effects , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Safety , Weight Gain/drug effectsSubject(s)
Female , Humans , Infant Food , Infant, Newborn , Intestines/drug effects , Lactulose/pharmacologyABSTRACT
Saponins, isolated from M. butyracea, were assessed for their acute and subacute oral toxicity in albino rats. Acute doses of saponins caused mortalities and LD50 and LD90 values were 330 and 430 mg/kg body wt respectively. Severe diarrhoea, restlessness and histopathological changes were observed in liver and kidney. Diets containing saponins at 0,250,500 and 1000 ppm for 14 weeks did not affect food intake, growth or organ weights, but induced mild histological changes in liver and kidney and altered the serum levels of alkaline phosphatase, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol and proteins, particularly in female rats.