Flacourtia rukam is used as a traditional Indonesian treatment for hypertension. The toxicity of this natural ingredient needs to be tested, especially for long-term usage. Here, we report subchronic toxicity testing of an ethanol extract from the stem bark of F. rukam on the albino rat, Rattus noverticus (Wistar strain). The experiment used 30 male and 30 female albino rats, each divided into 5 groups, that is, a control group and 4 treatment groups (doses of 200, 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg body weight [BW]). The experiment ran for 90 days. The toxicity effect was based on several parameters: Physical symptoms, weight, blood hematology (hemoglobin, erythrocytes, leukocytes, and hematocrit), blood biochemistry (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and creatinine), and relative organ weight. The results showed no significant difference between control and treatment groups up to a 600 mg/kg dose, but significant difference was observed at a 800 mg/kg dose. The difference, however, was still in the acceptable limits. Normal parameters resulted from biochemical examination, blood hematology, and BW, overall showed leading that F. rukam stem bark extract is not significantly toxic in the test animals.
Key words: Flacourtia rukam, toxicity, subchronic, wistar strain
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