Assessment of acute and subacute toxic effects of the Saudi folk herb Retama raetam in XXXX .

@entity82 @entity137 @entity3929 @entity1017 @entity35 @entity528
BACKGROUND: Retama raetam (RR) fruit is used in traditional Saudi folk medicine as a hypoglycemic herb. However, the potential @entity137 of RR has not been fully investigated. The current study aimed to explore the potential acute and subacute @entity137 of the methanolic extract of RR fruit in male and female @entity35 . METHODS: The extent of acute @entity137 of RR was tested 14 days after a single oral dose was administered (250  mg/kg, 500  mg/kg, or 750  mg/kg). Additionally, subacute @entity137 was tested 28 days after an oral dose of 250  mg/kg/d, 500  mg/kg/d, or 750  mg/kg/d was administered for 4 weeks. RESULTS: Subsequent to variable dosage testing, oral LD50 of RR was found to be 1995  mg/kg in @entity35 . Oral doses of 500  mg/kg and 750  mg/kg significantly decreased body @entity1017 . Subacute administration (750  mg/kg) was associated with significant manifestations of @entity137 . Additionally, subacute administration of the extract at doses of 500  mg/kg or 750  mg/kg significantly elevated @entity3929 transaminase and aspartate transaminase activities. Hepatotoxicity of RR was confirmed with histopathological findings. Subacute administration of RR (500  mg/kg) showed histopathological changes in the liver as indicated by degenerated hepatocytes and early @entity82 , while a dosage of 750  mg/kg showed congested central vein and @entity528 . Moreover, subacute administration of the extract at doses of 250  mg/kg, 500  mg/kg, or 750  mg/kg showed histopathological alterations in @entity35 kidney that ranged from mild interstitial congestion to @entity528 . The extract showed positive result in the Ames test. CONCLUSION: Repeated administration of methanolic extract of RR (250  mg/kg) has a low nephrotoxic subacute @entity137 potential, while it might have hepatotoxic, nephrotoxic, and mutagenic effects at higher doses.
