Toxicological evaluation of dried kacangma (Leonurus sibiricus) in rats: I. Blood chemistry, body and organ weight changes

Kacangma (Leonurus sibiricus L.) is a popular traditional herb that has been consumed for decades by the people of Sarawak as a herbal medicine or culinary ingredient. The toxicity of dried kacangma herb on Sprague Dawley male and female rats was evaluated through acute and sub-chronic studies. In the acute toxicity study (for 14 days), rats were given two dosages of kacangma i.e. 2.0 and 5.0 g/kg body weight. They were observed for any toxic signs especially death for the first 24 hours and continued up to 14 days. During the 14 days, none of the animals died and no significant differences were observed in body weight gain, food and water consumption. Subsequently the sub-chronic toxicity was studied for 90 days. The rats were fed kacangma at the rate of 0.5 (low dose), 5 (medium dose) and 25 (high dose) g/kg body weight. The control groups of rats received only the commercial rat pellet. Minor treatment-related effects were observed for body weights, organ weights and the lipid profile parameters and these did not appear to be of toxicological significance. In the sub-chronic toxicity studies, some indications of renal and liver toxicity were evident in the medium and high dose groups when plasma creatinine and liver enzymes were found to be higher when compared with the control and the low dose groups. In conclusion, if the herb kacangma is consumed at the rate of 0.5 g/kg body weight, there is a less likely chance of developing toxicity as observed throughout the period of sub-chronic study.