Acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies of a standardized extract of Centella asiatica ECa 233

Acute toxicity study of Centella asiatica standardized extract ECa 233 was conducted by an oral administration of 10.0 g/kg extract into 10 male and 10 female mice. The extract at the given dose did not cause any toxic signs and death within the observation period of 14 days. Sub-chronic toxicity study of ECa 233 has been investigated in four groups of Wistar rats, each of 24 rats (12 of each sex). Control group was orally given distilled water and three experimental groups were orally administered with ECa 233 in distilled water at the doses of 10, 100, and 1,000 mg/kg/day for 90 days. All ECa 233-treated rats showed no difference with regards to body weight, food consumption and health in comparison to the control group except that female rats receiving 1,000 mg/kg/day of ECa 233 had significantly higher white blood cell counts than the control group (p < 0.05). However, this alteration was not associated with internal organ pathology. In addition, male rats receiving 1,000 mg/kg/day of ECa 233 had significantly higher sodium level, but still within normal range, than those of control group (p < 0.05). Histopathological results of internal organs did not demonstrate any incidence or degree of lesions in a dose-dependent manner with the increasing dose of ECa 233. Therefore, based on the present studies it can be concluded that ECa 233 in the dose up to 10.0 g/kg produced no acute toxicity and no significant sub-chronic toxicity was observed in rats receiving 10-1,000 mg/kg of ECa 233.