Toxicological Safety Of Artemisia Argyi Extract And Its Effect On Immune And Antioxidant Functions In Mice

The experiments were conducted to study the toxicological safety of Artemisia argyi extract(AAE)and its effects on immune and antioxidant functions in mice,so as to provide a scientific basis for the application of AAE as a feed additive.The experiments were divided into four parts:1.Study on acute toxicity of AAE.A total of 24 mice(four-weeks)were randomly divided into four treatments with six replicates.The maximum tolerance dose(MTD)method was used to set the three doses(2000,4000,6000mg/kg)and control group of AAE.Intragastric administration and observe every six hours for seven consecutive days.The results showed that AAE was a non-toxic compound.2.Study on accumulative toxicity of AAE.A total of 48 mice(four-weeks)were randomly divided into four treatments with twelve replicates.AAE was intragastrically fed at respectively,500,1000,2000 mg/kg BW for 20 d.The results showed that AAE has no significant effect on the immune organ index,live function index and kidney function index in serum of mice(P >0.05),but significantly reduced the content of BUN in serum(P <0.05),which suggested that AAE had no accumulative toxicity.3.Effect of AAE on immune function in mice.A total of 30 mice(four-weeks)were randomly divided into five treatments with six replicates.The mice in control treatment were fed basal diet,and those in the other treatments were fed the basal diets supplemented with,respectively,250,500,1000,2000mg/kg AAE.The experiment lasted for 33 d whice was divided into pre-feeding period of 5 d and formal experimental period of 28 d.The results showed that the addition of AAE in diet has no significant effect on the immune organ index and intestinal sIgA content in mice(P >0.05),however,appropriate addition of AAE in diet signifficantly increased the concentration of IgG,IL-1? and IL-2 in serum(P <0.05),and extremely significantly increased the concentration of IgM(P <0.01).4.Effect of AAE on antioxidative function in mice.The test design is the same as the last experiment.The results showed that appropriate addition of AAE in diet extremely signifficantly increased T-AOC and T-SOD and sifnifficantly reduced the content of MDA in serum of mice(P <0.01),and signifficantly increased T-AOC(P <0.05)and the activity of T-SOD and GSH-Px(P <0.01)but extremely signifficantly reduced the content of MDA(P <0.01)in liver,in addition,appropriate does of AAE in diet significantly increased the activity of T-SOD(P <0.05)in intestine tissue.