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
. 2011 Sep;49(9):2268-72.
doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2011.06.025. Epub 2011 Jun 13.

Cholesterol reduction and lack of genotoxic or toxic effects in mice after repeated 21-day oral intake of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil

Celso A R A Costa  1 , Lucas T Bidinotto, Regina K Takahira, Daisy M F Salvadori, Luís F Barbisan, Mirtes Costa
Affiliations
Free article

Cholesterol reduction and lack of genotoxic or toxic effects in mice after repeated 21-day oral intake of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil

Celso A R A Costa et al. Food Chem Toxicol. 2011 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Cymbopogon citratus (lemongrass) is currently used in traditional folk medicine. Although this species presents widespread use, there are no scientific data on its efficacy or safety after repeated treatments. Therefore, this work investigated the toxicity and genotoxicity of this lemongrass's essential oil (EO) in male Swiss mice. The single LD(50) based on a 24h acute oral toxicity study was found to be around 3500 mg/kg. In a repeated-dose 21-day oral toxicity study, mice were randomly assigned to two control groups, saline- or Tween 80 0.01%-treated groups, or one of the three experimental groups receiving lemongrass EO (1, 10 or 100mg/kg). No significant changes in gross pathology, body weight, absolute or relative organ weights, histology (brain, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, stomach, spleen and urinary bladder), urinalysis or clinical biochemistry were observed in EO-treated mice relative to the control groups. Additionally, blood cholesterol was reduced after EO-treatment at the highest dose tested. Similarly, data from the comet assay in peripheral blood cells showed no genotoxic effect from the EO. In conclusion, our findings verified the safety of lemongrass intake at the doses used in folk medicine and indicated the beneficial effect of reducing the blood cholesterol level.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources