ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE AND SUB-ACUTE TOXICITY POTENTIALS OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF Pleurotus ostreatus IN MICE AND RATS

ABSTRACT

The present study was aimed at evaluating the acute and sub-acute toxicity profile of ethanol extract of Pleurotus ostreatus through oral administration using mice and rats. For the acute toxicity investigation, modified Lorke method was used. Twelve mice were randomly divided into control and treatment groups that received distilled water and oral administration of single doses of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg body weight respectively in the first phase. Absence of death in the first phase led to the second phase, using different mice, and doses of 1000, 2900 and 5000 mg/Kg of the extract was administered to one mouse each. In the sub-acute determination, twenty rats were divided into four groups and were given oral doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/Kg/day of the extract for 28 consecutive days after which biochemical analyses were done. Results obtained showed there were no signs of toxicity up to an acute maximum dose of 5000 mg/Kg. Sub-acute treatment did not significantly alter biochemical parameters in the treated animals when compared to control. Conclusively, the ethanol of Pleurotus ostreatus is relatively safe acutely and subacutely.