Acute intraperitoneal and oral toxicity of the leaf glycosidic extract of Trigonella foenum-graecum in mice

The present study was carried out to determine the acute toxicity of the leaf glycosidic extract of Trigonealla foenum-graecum by estimation of its medium lethal dose (LD,,) after oral and intraperitoneal administration to mice and also to identify the target organs for its possible toxic effects. The main target organ affected among the four organs studied (liver, kidney, stomach, small and large intestine) was the liver, where early degeneration with infiltration of mononuclear and mild hepatitis was found in some animals treated with toxic doses of glycosidic extract. It is concluded that the glycosidic extract of T. foenum-graecum leaves is considered to be safe and have minimal adverse effect. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.