Table 1.

LD₅₀ of berberine and sanguinarine (of extract and pure compound) as determined in different animals through different routes of exposure (S.No.1-6 Kulkarni et al., 1972 and S.No.7-9 Becci et al., 1987).

S.No.	Extract	Animal	Rout	LD50 (mg/kg)
1	Powdered root Berberis vulgaris	Mice	Oral	2,600
2	Root extract fraction of B. vulgaris	Rat	Oral	1,280
3	Root extract fraction of B. vulgaris	Mice	Oral	520
S.No.	Pure Compound	Animal	Rout	LD50 (mg/kg)
4	Pure berberine	Mice	Oral	329
5	Pure berberine	Mice	Intraperitoneal	23
6	Berberine sulfate isolated from Berberisaristata	Rat	Intraperitoneal	205
7	Pure sanguinarine	Rat	Oral (acute)	1,658
8	Pure sanguinarine	Rat	Intra-venous (acute)	29
9	Pure sanguinarine	Rabbit	Dermal (acute)	<200