The Publication:

Sub-chronic oral toxicity screening of quercetin in mice

Sounds like a mouthful? Don’t worry—there’s a summary below.

Publication Summary:

Quercetin is an organic flavonoid present in several fruits and vegetables. Its anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antioxidant, cardio-protective, anti-carcinogenic and neuroprotective properties endorse it as a possible treatment for inflammatory diseases and cancer. Unfortunately, conflicting research has cast uncertainties on the toxicity of quercetin. The main purpose of this study was to determine if quercetin has any toxic properties in mice at doses that have shown efficacy in pre-clinical studies. A sub-chronic toxicity study of quercetin was performed using male and female CD2F1 mice. Three different doses of quercetin (62, 125, and 250 mg/kg of diet) were infused into the diet and administered to mice for 98 days. These doses are equivalent to 12.5, 25, or 50 mg/kg of body weight daily in mice. Body weight, body composition, food consumption, water intake, blood cell count, behavior, and metabolic phenotype were assessed at various timepoints. Tissue and organs were evaluated for gross pathological changes and plasma was used to measure alkaline phosphatase, aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase to access the potential toxicity in liver and kidney. We found that low (62 mg/kg of diet), medium (125 mg/kg of diet), and high (250 mg/kg of diet) quercetin had no discernible effect on body composition, organ function, behavior, or metabolism. In summary, our study demonstrated that quercetin is safe for use in CD2F1 mice when given at ~12.5, 25, or 50 mg/kg of body weight daily doses for 14 weeks. These doses are equivalent to 1, 2, and 4 mg/kg body weight daily in humans, respectively.