Effects of intramuscularly injected plant-derived antimicrobials in the mouse model

• Published in: Scientific reports 2022-04, Vol.12 (1), p.5937-5937, Article 5937
• Main Authors: Johnson, Elizabeth J., Duan, Jingyue Ellie, Srirattana, Kanokwan, Venkitanarayanan, Kumar, Tulman, Edan R., Tian, Xiuchun Cindy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/154/1438; 631/154/570; Animal sciences; Animals; Anti-Infective Agents - toxicity; Antibiotic resistance; Antimicrobial agents; Body weight; Carcinogenicity Tests; Carvacrol; Cinnamaldehyde; Disease Models, Animal; Eugenol; Eugenol - toxicity; Humanities and Social Sciences; Injection; Kidneys; Legs; Liver; Male; Males; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; multidisciplinary; Muscles; Mutagenicity Tests; Oils & fats; Plants; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Toxicity; Zoology
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09705-9

With increasing antibiotic resistance, the use of plant derived antimicrobials (PDAs) has gained momentum. Here, we investigated the toxicity of trans -cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, and carvacrol after intramuscular injection in mice. Two doses of each PDA—300 and 500 mg/kg body weight—and vehicle controls were injected into the muscle of the right hind limb of CD-1 adult mice (n = 8/treatment). Ten physical/behavioral parameters were monitored hourly for 2 h and twice daily for 4 days post-injection together with postmortem examination of leg muscles and organs. Within the first 2 days of carvacrol treatment, one male died in each dose level and a third male receiving 500 mg/kg was removed from the study. No mortality was seen with any other treatment. Among all 81 parameters examined, significant higher relative liver weights (300 and 500 mg/kg eugenol groups; P