Thirteen-Week Oral Dose Toxicity Study of G. bimaculatus in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Gryllus bimaculatus (Gb) was orally administered at doses of 0, 0.04, 0.2, 1 and 5 g/kg bw/day for 13 consecutive weeks. There were no observed clinical signs or deaths related to treatment in all the groups tested. Therefore, the approximate lethal oral dose of G. bimaculatus was considered to be higher than 5 g/kg in rats. Throughout the administration period, no significant changes in diet consumption, ophthalmologic findings, organ weight, clinical pathology (hematology, clinical chemistry, coagulation, and urinalysis) or gross pathology were detected. Minor changes were found in hematological parameters for the 5 g/kg Gb-treated group (triglyceride reduction of 35.8%), but all changes were within normal physiological ranges. Microscopic examination did not identify any treatment-related histopathologic changes in the organs of Gb-treated rats in the high dose group. From these results, one can conclude that the no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of G. bimaculatus is higher than 5 g/kg bw/day in rats.