A-90 Day Gavage Safety Assessment of Boswellia serrata in Rats

The present study deals with the evaluation and assessment of the safety/toxic potential of Boswellia serrata, a well known Ayurvedic herb used to treat disorders of digestive system, respiratory ailments and bone related diseases. A repeated dose oral (90 days) toxicity study of Boswellia serrata was carried out. For this, 10 rats of each sex were treated with the Boswellia serrata at three different doses i.e. 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg B. wt. /day. As a control, 10 rats of each sex were treated with corn oil only which was the vehicle. Two groups consisting of five male and five female rats were kept as control recovery and high dose recovery group which were treated with the vehicle (corn oil) and the Boswellia serrata at the dose of 1000 mg/kg B. wt. Animals of control recovery and high dose recovery groups were further observed for 28 days without any treatment. From this study, it was found that the rats treated with high dose of the Boswellia serrata gained their body weight with much less rate than that of the control group. However, during the recovery period, the loss in body weight gain as observed during the study period exhibits a reversible effect on the metabolic activity and recovered. The results also indicate that Boswellia serrata is relatively safe in rat up to the dose of 500 mg/kg B.wt. as no adverse impact on health factors was observed. Thus, the No observed adverse effect level is 500 mg/kg B. wt.