Innocuousness of a polyherbal formulation: A case study using a traditional Thai antihypertensive herbal recipe in rodents.

Recently, a traditional Thai antihypertensive herbal recipe has reportedly been used in Thailand. Its ingredients have long featured in traditional Thai medicine preparations; however, research indicates that the presence of one of them - Tinospora crispa - may have negative effects on the liver and kidneys. Thus, the safety data of this recipe must be proved in animal models prior to conducting any studies in humans. The present case study aims to evaluate the safety of this recipe in Swiss albino mice and Wistar rats through acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies, respectively. The quality control of this recipe was also achieved to guarantee the chemical consistency throughout the entire experiment. Results showed that this recipe did not cause death or any toxic signs in mice or rats. The oral LD50 value in mice was more than 5.0 g/kg. Some hematological and serum biochemical values of treated rats, such as hematocrit, hemoglobin, platelet, monocytes, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, and creatinine, were found to be statistically different from the control group; however, all values were within the ranges of normal rats. Considering the histological study, no damage on liver and kidney tissues was observed in the treatment.

Influence of feeding Tinospora cordifolia peripartum on lactation parameters in crossbred cows.

For studying the effect of dietary supplementation of guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) peripartum on lactation an investigation was conducted on 15 pregnant Karan Fries crossbred cows which were divided into two groups: treatment group of eight cows which were supplemented with guduchi at 60 g/day for 45 days prepartum and 120 g/day for 45 days postpartum; control group of seven pregnant cows which were not supplemented with guduchi. Jugular blood samples were collected from all cows during the periparturient period for analysis of various blood cell and plasma parameters. A significantly higher total leukocyte count, lymphocyte count, neutrophil count and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio was recorded in the guduchi supplemented treatment group in comparison to untreated control cows throughout the experimental period. The increase of milk production over 305 days of lactation due to guduchi supplementation was significant (p < 0.05). A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in somatic cell count was also observed during the experimental period. Milk composition (fat, protein, lactose and SNF) was similar (p > 0.05) for both the groups. Plasma non esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in cows supplemented with guduchi throughout the course of study. Plasma concentration of growth hormone in the treated cows was also significantly higher beginning on the day of parturition up to 3 weeks postpartum (p < 0.05) in comparison to unsupplemented group.