Toxicity Studies and Body Weights Changes in Wistar Rats Following Oral Administration of Methanol Extract From Indigenous Ganoderma Sp. In Nigeria

The acute and sub acute toxicity studies of methanol extract of Ganoderma lucidum was evaluated in Wistar rats using standard methods. Various doses (200, 400 800 and 3200 mg/kg) of the extract were orally administered to Wistar rats over a period of 24 hours in acute toxicity studies, while selected doses of 200,, 400 and 800 mg/kg of the extract were orally administered daily, for 21 days to rats according to body weights. Results of findings in both studies showed no apparent clinical sign of toxicity, and no gross lesion was observed in the excised organs (lung, liver, kidney, spleen and heart) of the experimental rats. The experimental rats responded well through increases in body weights throughout the study period. These findings showed safety of the methanol extract of the wild Ganoderma spp. in wistar rats, implying a wide margin of safety following consumption for a long period of time, especially at doses of 200 and 400 mg/ kg. the rats were equally observed to reverse changes in their physiological values following a withdrawal period of two weeks. This implied the effective biotransformation and elimination of this natural product within a short time period.