Laboratory of Nutrition and Functional Food, Jilin University, Xi'an Road 5333#, Changchun 130062, PR China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Sep 1;137(1):36-43. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2011.03.021. Epub 2011 Mar 21.
Corn silk is a traditional herbal medicine in China, which has been used in many parts of the world for the treatment of edema as well as for cystitis, gout, kidney stones, nephritis, prostatitis and similar ailments. However, there is little scientific evidence about its safety. As a part of its safety assessment, a subchronic toxicity was performed in this paper.
The subchronic toxicity was investigated in male and female Wistar rats by dietary administration at concentrations of 0.5%, 2.0% and 8.0% (w/w) for 90 days. Overall health, body weight, food consumption, hematology, blood chemistry, organ weights, gross and microscopic appearance of tissues were compared between test and control groups.
A number of significant differences were seen between groups, but none of them was considered to be adverse. Based on the present study, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of corn silk is at least 8.0% which corresponds to a mean daily corn silk intake of approximately 9.354 and 10.308 g/day/kg body weight for males and females, respectively.
The results obtained in the present study suggest that consumption of corn silk has no adverse effects and support the safety of corn silk for humans.
玉米须是中国传统草药，已在世界许多地区用于治疗水肿以及膀胱炎、痛风、肾结石、肾炎、前列腺炎和类似疾病。然而，关于其安全性的科学证据很少。作为其安全性评估的一部分，本文进行了亚慢性毒性研究。
通过饮食给予雄性和雌性 Wistar 大鼠 0.5%、2.0%和 8.0%（w/w）的玉米须，进行为期 90 天的亚慢性毒性试验。比较试验组和对照组的整体健康状况、体重、食物消耗、血液学、血液化学、器官重量、组织大体和显微镜下外观。
各组之间出现了一些显著差异，但均不被认为是不利的。基于本研究，玉米须的无明显不良效应水平（NOAEL）至少为 8.0%，相当于雄性和雌性每日玉米须摄入量分别约为 9.354 和 10.308 g/day/kg 体重。
本研究结果表明，玉米须的食用没有不良影响，支持玉米须对人类的安全性。
