Acute toxicity evaluation of aminomethylnaphthoquinone (AMNQ 1) in BALB/c mice

We report the first preclinical tests showing that aminomethylnaphthoquinone - 3-[N-(n-butyl) amino-2,4-diclorobenzyl]-2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (AMNQ 1) has low cytotoxicity and anti-HSV-1 activity in vitro in Vero cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute toxicity of AMNQ 1 in BALB/c mice. We used BALB/c female mice to evaluate the median lethal dose (LD50) of AMNQ 1 with 2000 mg/kg body weight and other three concentrations using 550, 175 and 55 mg/kg. We compared this to acyclovir (ACV-50 mg/kg) and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (10% DMSO) over a 14-day period. The BALB/c mice received a single oral dose by gavage. There were no deaths in either group and no change in the murine clinical signs. The hematological and biochemical analyses showed some changes that returned to reference levels without impairment of hemostasis. The AMNQ 1 treatment did not induce untoward changes in organs as shown by histological studies. The in vivo results showed that AMNQ 1 has low toxicity. In conclusion, AMNQ 1 is safe and can be potentially used as an anti-HSV-1 agent in future studies.