Preliminary Study For Assessing Safety Of Raspberry Ketone

Raspberry ketone (4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one; RK) – a major aromatic compound of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) is being widely used as an anti-obesity supplement. The present study was conducted to assess the safety concern with Raspberry ketone in high fat diet (HFD) induced obesity mouse model. Mice were divided into 7 groups (n = 4 to 6/group). Group I animals fed on normal diet, served as control group. The rest of the 6 groups (II to VII) were fed on HFD for 10 weeks. Thereafter, groups III and IV were given a single dose of LPS (6 mg/kg; i.p). Group III was orally dosed with vehicle while group IV was given RK (500 mg/kg) daily intra-gastric (i.g). Mice in groups V, VI and VII were daily administered RK at 500 mg/kg, 330 mg/kg and 165 mg/kg respectively, i.g for 10days. On day 11, mice were sacrificed. Results revealed that, at 500 mg/kg, RK causes 67% mortality, elevated levels of ALT and higher blood glucose levels. At low doses (330 mg/kg and 165 mg/kg), there was no mortality, ALT levels remained normal and a significant reduction in body weights were also observed. However, a slight increase in blood glucose levels was observed. From these preliminary results of a short term study (10 days), it appears that RK at lower doses may help in reducing body weight; however, further extended studies are needed to evaluate the effect of RK on other biological parameters to determine its potential toxicity.