Abstract
Background In line with the growing industrial applications of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) in various fields, concerns about their potentially harmful consequences on the environment, human, and animal health are increasing. Giloy is considered an alternative medicine to treat various ailments. Giloy's potential in helping manage diabetes, alleviating arthritis and joint pain, and addressing skin disorders such as eczema and acne underscores its multifaceted role in traditional medicine. Moreover, it is deemed beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety levels, promoting liver health, and potentially impacting heart health by regulating cholesterol levels. Emerging research also explores its potential in cancer prevention. This study aimed to evaluate the hematotoxicity of CuONPs and the alleviating effect of giloy in adult rats. Materials and methods In this experiment, 28 laboratory rats were used, set to four groups (7/group), as follows: control group without any dose; CuONPs group administered copper oxide nanoparticles at 300 mg/kg/day; CuONPs + giloy group dosed with CuONPs at 300 mg/kg/day plus giloy at 100 mg/kg/day; giloy group treated only with giloy at 100 mg/kg/day. All treatments were given by gastric gavage and continued for 28 uninterrupted days. Results Dosing animals with CuONPs led to significant adverse changes in the examined blood profile. In contrast, when the animals were coadministered with giloy, restoring the disturbed blood levels was observed. Conclusion Copper oxide nanoparticles at a high dose had notable hematotoxicity in laboratory rats and, supplemented with giloy, could reduce this hematological toxicity.