In vitro and in vivo evaluation of systemic and genetic toxicity of Citrus unshiu peel

Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: The peel of Citrus unshiu Markovich fruits (CUP), called "Jinpi" in Korea, and "Chenpi" in China, has been used for the treatment of respiratory and blood circulation disorders in traditional oriental medicine (TOM). Despite its widespread uses in TOM, no information on the safety of CUP has been reported. Thus, genotoxicity and systemic toxicity of CUP were evaluated in the current studies.

Materials and methods: We conducted a toxicological evaluation of CUP water extracts using acute and subchronic (13-week repeated-dose) toxicity tests and three genotoxicity assays (bacterial reverse mutation, mammalian chromosomal aberration, and micronuclei formation).

Results: In acute and subchronic toxicity tests, both the median lethal dose (LD₅₀) and no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) were more than 4000mg/kg/day in rats. None of the genotoxicity assays revealed any mutagenicity or clastogenicity in in vitro and in vivo systems.

Conclusion: CUP water extracts were found to be nongenotoxic under our testing conditions and had low acute and subchronic toxicity.

Keywords: Acute and sub-chronic toxicity; Bacterial reverse mutation; Chromosomal aberration; Citrus unshiu Peel; Mouse micronucleus.