Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013:2013:102987.
doi: 10.1155/2013/102987. Epub 2013 Aug 25.

Evaluation of Acute 13-Week Subchronic Toxicity and Genotoxicity of the Powdered Root of Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia Jack)

Ching-Hao Li  1 , Jiunn-Wang Liao, Po-Lin Liao, Wei-Kuang Huang, Ling-Shan Tse, Cheng-Hui Lin, Jaw-Jou Kang, Yu-Wen Cheng
Affiliations

Evaluation of Acute 13-Week Subchronic Toxicity and Genotoxicity of the Powdered Root of Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia Jack)

Ching-Hao Li et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013.

Abstract

Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) is an indigenous traditional herb in Southern Asia. Its powdered root has been processed to produce health supplements, but no detailed toxicology report is available. In this study, neither mutagenicity nor clastogenicity was noted, and acute oral LD50 was more than 6 g/kg b.w. After 4-week subacute and 13-week subchronic exposure paradigms (0, 0.6, 1.2, and 2 g/kg b.w./day), adverse effects attributable to test compound were not observed with respect to body weight, hematology, serum biochemistry, urinalysis, macropathology, or histopathology. However, the treatment significantly reduced prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, creatine phosphate kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and cholesterol levels, especially in males (P < 0.05). These changes were judged as pharmacological effects, and they are beneficial to health. The calculated acceptable daily intake (ADI) was up to 1.2 g/adult/day. This information will be useful for product development and safety management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Astin JA. Why patients use alternative medicine: results of a national study. Journal of the American Medical Association. 1998;279(19):1548–1553. - PubMed
    1. Osman A, Jordan B, Lessard PA, et al. Genetic diversity of Eurycoma longifolia inferred from single nucleotide polymorphisms. Plant Physiology. 2003;131(3):1294–1301. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhat R, Karim AA. Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia Jack): a review on its ethnobotany and pharmacological importance. Fitoterapia. 2010;81(7):669–679. - PubMed
    1. Kuo P-C, Damu AG, Lee K-H, Wu T-S. Cytotoxic and antimalarial constituents from the roots of Eurycoma longifolia . Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry. 2004;12(3):537–544. - PubMed
    1. Effendy NM, Mohamed N, Muhammad N, Mohamad IN, Shuid AN. Eurycoma longifolia: medicinal plant in the prevention and treatment of male osteoporosis due to androgen deficiency. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2012;2012:9 pages.125761 - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources