ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2025
Comprehensive safety assessment of Qiwei Tiexie Pill: integrating histopathological, biochemical, and metabolomic analyses in a rat model.
Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Qiwei Tiexie Pill (QWTX) is a Tibetan medicine formulation containing processed iron powder that requires systematic safety evaluation. This study aimed to assess the acute toxicological mechanisms of QWTX and its key mineral component, processed iron powder. Methods: An integrative approach combining histopathological examination, serum biochemistry, and multi-platform metabolomics (1H NMR and LC-MS) was employed to evaluate toxicological responses in Sprague-Dawley rats following 7-day oral administration. Results: While both treatments preserved hepatic structural integrity without inducing hepatotoxicity, significant renal effects were observed in a dose- and formulation-dependent manner. High-dose processed iron powder caused moderate renal histopathological alterations, primarily vascular changes and hemorrhage, alongside metabolic disruptions in both liver and kidney. QWTX, despite inducing significant metabolic perturbations at high dose, maintained normal renal architecture, indicating a protective effect conferred by its herbal components. Metabolomic and biochemical analyses revealed systemic metabolic reprogramming across four interdependent physiological domains: energy metabolism characterized by TCA cycle impairment and enhanced BCAA catabolism; oxidative stress evidenced by glutathione depletion and lipid peroxidation; nitrogen metabolism showing a "hepato-renal disconnect"; and neuroendocrine regulation with widespread hormone pathway dysregulation. Discussion: QWTX demonstrated a superior safety profile compared to processed iron powder alone, particularly in preserving renal structure and mitigating iron-associated nephrotoxicity. However, high-dose QWTX still triggered significant oxidative and metabolic stress, underscoring the importance of dose optimization in clinical use. These findings provide a systems-level understanding of the acute toxicological profile of QWTX and processed iron powder, supporting the traditional principles of herbal-metal synergy in Tibetan medicine while highlighting the need for long-term safety studies to evaluate cumulative mineral exposure and chronic metabolic effects.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.