Toxicological Evaluation of Herbal Formulation Containing Moringa olifera and Zingiber officinale in Wistar Rat

Abstract

The use of herbal formulation has become part of traditional medicine especially in Africa region. The presence and activity of different bioactive compounds in the herb may triggered the toxicity and efficacy. Herbs have now become important and widely used globally. The formulation and utilization of this herbs need proper scrutiny and analysis as regard the interaction with physiological and biochemical component of body system. In this present study, a toxicological evaluation was conducted for safety and efficacy of a herbal product formulated from Moringa olifera and Zingiber officinale at 99: 1. In the toxicity test, Wistar rat grouped into four ( Group I, II, III and IV) were administered with the herbal formulation at 50mg/g , 100mg/g and 200mg/g body weight to the animals in Group II, III and IV respectively, while Group I was designated as control and only administered with ordinary pure water for twenty-eight days. The effect of the herbal formulation on body weight, food and water consumption, hematology as well as clinical biochemistry were studied. There were no significant differences in the body weight and feeding habit between control and treated animals. Analysis of Hematological parameters such as Red Blood Cell (RBC) count, Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, Hematocrit (HCT), White Blood Cell (WBC) count showed no obvious differences (P> 0.05) as compared to control group. Also, the biochemical parameters such as AST, ALP, ALT, cholesterol, triglycerides, creatinine were also examined.