Safety Evaluation Of A Compound Chinese Herbal Medicine On Mice And Tilapia

In this experiment,a compound Chinese Herbal Medicine(CHM)made of Chinese angelica root,honeysuckle,Radix Isatidis and ten others,mainly used to improve the quality of tilapia muscle and promote the growth and proliferation of beneficial gut.For the safety of CHM which is used in tilapia culture,this study was carried out in 3 parts,including acute toxicity,sub-acute toxicity to mice,sub-acute toxicity to tilapia and provide a theoretical basis for this herbal compound in practice.Methods:1.Acute toxicity test of mice: According to the characteristics of the compound CHM,the Kunming mice were fed the greatest concentration(1 g/ml)of dissolved drugs and observed for 14 days.The drinking water intake,mental status,death and neurological,respiratory,digestive and other systems of mice were recorded.2.Sub-acute toxicity experiment: The experiment was set up for a high-dose group(80 g/kg),middle-dose group(26.67 g/kg),low-dose group(8 g/kg)and control group(normal saline)to Kunming mice for 28 days.The growth status,feed utilization,blood biochemical,viscera indexes and pathology of the liver,spleen,kidney were examined.3.Sub-acute toxicity test of cultured tilapia :Tilapia were fed with 0%(control group),1%,3%,5% CHM supplemented feed for a month.At the end of the experiment,the growth status and the feed utilization of the fish were calculated,and the blood biochemical indexes detected.The pathological changes of liver,head kidney,body kidney and spleen were as well observed.Results:1.Acute toxicity test: The maximum daily dose of mice was 80 g/kg.No mice died during the experiment.The mice in each group were in good condition,and the activities such as eating,drinking water,respiration,digestion and excretion were in a normal state.2.Sub-acute toxicity test: During the experiment with the Kunming mice,there were no obvious abnormalities in mice behavior,viscera indexes and blood biochemical parameters.In addition there were no observable pathological difference in the spleen,liver and kidney.3.Sub-acute toxicity test of cultured tilapia: The weight gain rate of tilapia increased with the increase of the dosage of CHM,and the feed coefficient decreased with the increase of dosage.The levels of AST,ALT,TP,ALB,Cr,BUN had no significant(P>0.05)difference compared to the control group,while the TG of the 5% group was higher(P<0.05)than the control group.There were no significant histological changes in the liver,spleen,head kidney and kidney.Conclusion: Acute toxicity of the CHM is very low.There is little or no sub-acute toxicity of the compound CHM on Kunming mice at a rate of 80 g/kg diet supplementation.Also,it is safe and feasible to use 1% and 3% compound CHM in tilapia culture.