ABSTRACT
Gum tragacanth has been extensively employed to stabilize aqueous suspensions of relatively insoluble substances in toxicity studies on orally administered products such as phenacetin, kaolin, barium sulfate, and paracetamol. It is an off-white powder obtained from the white gavan or Astralagus gummifer Labillardiere and other species of Astralagus, found in Iran, Syria, and Asia Minor. Tragacanth consists of high molecular weight polysaccharides composed of galacto-arabans and acid polysaccharides containing galacturonic acid groups. The acute oral toxicity of gum tragacanth was studied by Boyd, Shanas, and Shanas. Gum tragacanth was used as the powdered form of the British and US pharmacopeias, and administered intragastrically to young male albino rats as a 2% aqueous colloidal solution. The clinical syndrome of intoxication was most marked during the first 24 hr of the onset of daily administration of gum tragacanth. The common clinical signs were diarrhea, hypothermia, pallor, dyspnea, and tonoclonic convulsions.
