Abstract
Objectives: HMCO5 is an extract obtained from 8 different herbal mixtures. We undertook a safety evaluation of HMCO5 for a dose range finding (DRF) toxicity test in specific pathogen free (SPF) Sprague-Dawley (SD) male and female rats. Methods: The male and female rats were divided into 4 groups, respectively; G(0), treated with distilled water: G(1), treated with 222 mg/kg HMC05: G(2), treated with 667 mg/kg HMC05, and G(3), treated with 2,000 mg/kg HMC05; HMC05 was administered orally for 4 weeks. The safety evaluation examined clinical signs, mortality, body weight, food consumption, water consumption, ophthalmic findings, urinalysis, hematological values, absolute & relative organ weights, and necropsy findings during the tests. Results: There were no changes in clinical signs, mortality, body weight, food consumption, water consumption, and ophthalmic findings examined during the test periods. In serum biochemical values, triglyceride was increased in male group G(3) and Na$^+$ decreased significantly in male groups G(2), G(3) and G(4). In male group G(4), spleen weight decreased relatively and increases of absolute & relative left ovary weights were found. In addition, an adhesion of liver to diaphragm was found in male group G(2). However, we could not find any dose-interrelationships in these changes. Conclusions: These results indicate that HMC05 extract did not show any toxicity in the DRF toxicity study. Therefore, it suggests that establishment of 1,000, 333 and 111 mg/kg dosages are moderate in a repeated dose 26-week oral toxicity study of HMC05.
