TOXICITY ASSESSMENT OF MONTMORILLONITE AS A DRUG CARRIER FOR PHARMACEUTICAL APPLICATIONS: YEAST AND RATS MODEL

Our previous study indicated that montmorillonite (MMT for short) was pharmaceutically feasible to be used as a carrier of an anticancer drug 5-FU. Emphasis of this study is thus placed on the toxicity of MMT to address whether it is clinically safe for practical use. Hematological data of rats model showed that the rats administered with oral MMT had significant increases in hemoglobin (Hb) concentration, Hamatocrit and RBC count than those of oral PBS buffer (p 0.05). Hematological analysis for intravenous injection also showed no statistically significant differences between experimental and control group (p>0.05). Biochemical analysis pointed out that compared to oral PBS there was not only a significant decrease of sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) ion (p MMTK-SA ≫ MMT-SA > MMT according to EC0 or EC50 line. These all suggested that MMT alone is much less toxic than Lannate and potassium hexacyanoferrate(III). Apparently, it was concluded that MMT alone could be considered non-toxic to S. cerevisiae and Wistar rat for myriads of applications.