Evaluation of acute toxicity of betulin

Lupane-type triterpenes and their anti-cancer activities against most common malignant tumors: a review

“…Betulin has shown to induce apoptosis on lung cell line A549, when apoptosis induction was increased by 27 % compared with untreated control, showing an IC 50 (20 µM) almost equal to cisplatin (25 µM) (Pyo et al, 2009[ 68 ]). Cisplatin is well known as an apoptosis inductor (Barry et al, 1990[ 8 ]), however betulin has not toxic effects even at high doses (Makarova et al, 2011[ 54 ]), which is an advantage compared to cisplatin, because the latter causes nephrotoxicity and is the main restriction for its dosing (Miller et al, 2010[ 59 ]). Similar results for apoptosis induction using betulin were found by Rzeski et al (2009[ 70 ]) against the A549 cell line.…”

Betulin and Crinum asiaticum L. bulbs extract attenuate pulmonary fibrosis by down regulating pro-fibrotic and pro-inflammatory cytokines in bleomycin-induced fibrosis mice model

“…Betulin is a lupine type triterpene with various pharmacological and biological activities, including anticancer [ [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] ], anti-inflammatory [ 47 , 48 ], antimicrobial [ 49 , 50 ] and anti-liver fibrosis effects [ 51 ]. The toxicity profile of betulin has been reported and the doses selected for this research work were below the lethal dose in a study conducted by Makarova in 2011 [ 52 ]. The aim of this work was to investigate the anti-pulmonary fibrosis effect of Crinum asiaticum and betulin in bleomycin induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice model therefore assessing some key pathological biomarkers.…”

Supported Silver Nanoparticles as Catalysts for Liquid-Phase Betulin Oxidation

“…Moderate concentrations of betulin in the range of 11–20 µM [ 27 , 28 ] demonstrate an ability to selectively suppress tumor growth without affecting the growth of normal cells. Betulin does not have a toxic effect at high doses: once intragastrically at a dose of 1000–16,000 mg/kg and once intraperitoneally at a dose of 250–4000 mg/kg in mice and rats [ 29 ]. After injections, the authors observed the animals for 14 days.…”