Angelica acutiloba (AA), a
Japanese species of Danggui, has been used worldwide as a traditional
herbal medicine with several bioactivities including anti-diabetic,
anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-
tumor, and anti-
obesity. However, there is lack of toxicological data available to evaluate potential long-term
toxicity and the
no-observed-adverse-effect level (
NOAEL) of AA extract in accordance with the test guidelines published by the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In the 14-day repeat-
dose toxicity study, no
adverse effects on
mortality,
body weight change, clinical signs, and organ
weights was found following repeat
oral administration to
rats for 14 days (125, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg
body weight), leading that 2000 mg/kg is the highest recommended
dose of AA extract for the 13-week repeat-
dose oral
toxicity study. In the 13-week repeat-
dose oral
toxicity study, the AA extract was orally administered to groups of
rats for 13 weeks (125, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg
body weight) to compare between control and AA extract groups. The
administration of AA extract did not produce
mortality or remarkable clinical signs during this 13-week study. And, the data revealed that there were no significant differences in
food/
water consumption,
body weight, hematological
parameters,
clinical chemistry parameters, gross macroscopic findings,
organ weight and histopathology in comparison to the
control group. On the basis of these results, the subchronic
NOAEL of the AA extract was more than 2000 mg/kg/day when tested in
rats. And, the AA extract is considered safe to use orally as a traditional
herbal medicine.