A haematotoxicity evaluation of a natural polymer intended to be a nutraceutical and pharmaceutical drug delivery system.

Nutraceuticals, are defined as foods or components of foods that have unique health benefits in the prevention and treatment of disease. Natural polymer research in the development of enabling excipients for long term administration of novel drugs,, has yielded remarkable results. Many chronic diseases are associated with haematological co-morbidities. The use of nutraceuticals, from polysaccharide food sources, versatile in their use as excipients, to complement and augment the treatment outcome of drugs and for the promotion of health in such conditions is crucial. Even though nutraceuticals are primarily from food sources, in principle their safety should be evaluated. However a safety evaluation of some excipients has resulted in harmful haematological effects [1] [2]. A 90-day subchronic toxicity investigation, was undertaken to evaluate the effect of of cocoa pod husk (CPH) pectin in doses up to 71.4 mg/kg on indicators for haematotoxicity, direct, indirect and total bilirubin, and the spleen. A 90 day repeated dose administration showed no effects on critical indicators of anaemia, direct, indirect and total bilirubin levels,with no indication of leucopenia, lymphocytosis, lymphocytopaenia, thromboembolic disease and no abnormal histopathological changes in the spleen.There was however a transient elevation in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) at day 30. The data obtained from this study did not reveal any remarkable findings of toxicological relevance to the haematopoietic system [3] [4].

The authors declare no conflict of interest

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the University of Ghana Office of Research and Innovation (ORID) in providing a grant for this study

• References

• 1 Nasri H, Baradaran A, Shirzad H, Rafieian-Kopaei M. New concepts in nutraceuticals as alternative for pharmaceuticals. Int J Prev Med. 2014; 5 (12) 1487-99
• 2 Pifferi G, Santoro P, Pedrani M. Quality and functionality of excipients. Il Farmaco 1999; 54 (01) 1-14
• 3 Chinda D, Nakaji S, Fukuda S, Sakamoto J, Shimoyama T, Danjo K. et al. Evaluation of pectin digestion and absorption in the small intestine and of fementation in the large intestine in the same subject. 2003;124(4):A434-A5.
• 4 Eisele J, Haynes G, Kreuzer K, Rosamilia TJRT. Pharmacology. Characterisation and toxicological assessment of Neutral Methacrylate Copolymer for GRAS evaluation 2013; 67 (03) 392-408

Publication History

Article published online:
13 December 2021