Abstract
There is a resurgence of interest in the use of herbal supplements in Nigeria arising from the unsubstantiated belief of the safety of the supplements, the hepatotoxicity and heamatological profile of Smart Herbal Purifier (SHP) a formulation of herbal components was investigated in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. One hundred and twenty SD rats were divided into four groups of thirty rats each. Group 1 (control) and was given only feed and water ad libitum. Groups 2, 3 and 4 received SHP at 48, 240 and 480 mg/kg orally for 90 days repeated dose toxicity study and 30 day post treatment in which SHP was withdrawn from the animals. Body and liver weights, fluid and feed intake, histopathology of liver, biochemical and heamatological parameters were measured. The RBC and WBC increased in the high treatment groups. There was a significant increase in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in the high treatment group. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) increased in a dose dependent manner but was not significant. The liver showed mild periportal lympocytic infiltration. SHP may not be as safe as it is claimed and we recommend more in-depth risk assessment.