Molecules, Vol. 23, Pages 2486: Subchronic Toxicity Studies of Cortex Dictamni Extracts in Mice and Its Potential Hepatotoxicity Mechanisms in Vitro

Molecules, Vol. 23, Pages 2486: Subchronic Toxicity Studies of Cortex Dictamni Extracts in Mice and Its Potential Hepatotoxicity Mechanisms in Vitro Molecules doi: 10.3390/molecules23102486 Authors: Qiongyin Fan Baosheng Zhao Chunguo Wang Jingxuan Zhang Jinying Wu Ting Wang Anlong Xu Cortex Dictamni is a commonly-used traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of skin inflammation, tinea, and eczema. Recently, some studies reported that Cortex Dictamni might induce liver injury, suggesting more attention to its safety. The current study was designed to investigate subchronic toxicity of Cortex Dictamni aqueous extract (CDAE) and ethanol extract (CDEE) in mice and the potential hepatotoxicity mechanisms in vitro. Firstly, CDAE or CDEE groups were administrated with varying dosages (2.3, 4.6, or 9.2 g/kg/day, p.o.) in mice for 28 days in subchronic toxicity studies. General clinical signs and biochemical parameters were examined, and morphological analyses were conducted. Secondly, we identified the different constituents of CDAE and CDEE using HPLC-MS/MS and chose major components for further study. In order to determine the toxic components, we investigated the cytotoxicity of extracts and chosen components using CCK-8 assay in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, we explored the possible hepatotoxicity mechanisms of Cortex Dictamni using a high content analysis (HCA). The results showed that no significant differences of general clinical signs were observ...
Source: Molecules - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research