| Popis: |
Herbal products with potential therapeutic and nutritional values are gaining importance among people around the world. Herbal products are generally considered safe for human applications. Extracts from various herbal products or purified bioactive compounds are prepared and marketed in various forms. Polyherbal products are formulations with more than two herbal extracts. They are considered prophylactically or therapeutically effective on many occasions due to their complementary and/or potentiation activities due to each other’s benefits. In most of the incidents, these herbal products have not been scientifically validated. Hence, patients and/or consumers are at risk for various adverse effects, leading to acute and chronic toxicity. General toxicity tests are generally conducted for herbal products; however, the neurotoxicity tests are not routinely conducted. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and arsenic present in the polyherbal products often cause severe neurotoxicity. The major challenge of using polyherbal formulations products for prophylactic and/or therapeutic purposes is the nonavailability of valid scientific information on the complete metabolite profile, human equivalent dose, potential adverse effects, and possible antidotes. In this chapter, we look into the potentially toxic substances present in the polyherbal products, and various general toxicity and neurotoxicity tests of the herbal products are discussed. |
