The oleo gum resin of Boswellia sacra Fleuck. (Burseraceae) is widely consumed for treatment of several diseases and disorders. To determine the effect of repeated administration of this resin on liver and kidney functions, three different doses of standardized methanolic extract were administered orally to rats for 28 days. Apart from histological studies and determination of biomarkers of hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity, other parameters of sub-chronic toxicity such as behavioral change, food consumption and change in body weight were assessed. The extract contained about 36.91% of total boswellic acids; of which 11-keto beta boswellic acid, acetyl-11-keto beta boswellic acid, boswellic acids (α and β) and acetyl boswellic acid (α and β) were found to be 5.81%, 1.91%, 21.92% and 7.27% respectively. Oral administration of the extract for 28 consecutive days did not show any sign of behavioral toxicity and did not affect food consumption or weight gain significantly. Determination of biomarkers of hepatic and nephrotoxicity revealed that extract was safe at the tested doses as it did not produce any significant change in the studied biomarkers except producing a dose dependent increase in serum total protein levels. The histological examination supported biochemical findings. To conclude, methanolic extract of Boswellia sacra doen not produce any significant toxicity to liver and kidney up to doses of 100 mg/kg body weight. The results contradict earlier reports that members of boswellia species produce organ toxicity in rats.

Al-Yahya AAI, Asad M, Sadaby A, Ibrahim KE. 2017. Short Communication: Augmentation of cardioprotective effect of captopril by Costus speciosus against isoproterenol induced myocardial toxicity in rats. Nusantara Bioscience 9: 295-299. This study determined the pharmacodynamic interaction of captopril, a known cardioprotective effect with methanolic extract of Costus speciosus rhizomes (Costaceae) that is known for its powerful antioxidant action during isoproterenol induced cardiac toxicity in rats. A methanolic extract of the rhizomes was prepared by maceration. Rats were administered the methanolic extract at two different doses of 200 mg/k or 400 mg/kg orally and captopril was administered orally at a dose of 30 mg/kg. All the drugs alone or in combination were once daily for two weeks. At the end of treatment period, two doses of isoproterenol (150 mg/kg, s.c) were administered to rats at 24 hr interval. Blood was withdrawn to estimate creatinine kinase-MB (CK-MB) activities. The heart tissue was subjected to histological examinations to determine the extent of damage. Isoproterenol induced severe damage to the myocardium that was indicated through an elevation in serum CK-MB activity and the same was confirmed by histological examinations. Costus speciosus at both the tested doses attenuated the damage produced by isoproterenol. Both the doses caused a decrease in the biomarker activity as well as reduced the myocardial damage as observed in histological examination. A similar effect was observed with captopril. The co-administration of captopril with either dose of Costus speciosus demonstrated excellent cardioprotection suggesting that combination of this herb with captopril augments its cardioprotective action. It was concluded that Costus speciosus shows dose-dependent cardioprotection and augments the cardioprotective effect of captopril during isoproterenol induced cardiotoxicity in rats.