Safety & Toxicology Review

Tollovid: Brief Introduction

Tollovid is a botanically – sourced commercial product that is available as a supplement and sold directly to consumers in the US and certain European markets, and has a Certificate of Free Sale. Tollovid is delivered in capsule format and contains Lithospermum erythrorhizon (sometimes called Gromwell) root extract which demonstrates potent protease inhibitory activity. The recommended dose is 3 capsules 4 times daily.

The main botanical ingredients of Tollovid are derived from organic extracts of Lithospermum  erythrorhizon roots, a plant species that is a member of the Lithospermeae tribe of the Boraginaceae plant family, and which is highly related to its ‘cousin’, Arnebia euchroma. Both species are noted for their important roles in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and have a long history of safety and tolerability.

Classification of Lithospermum and Arnebia
(From NCBI: txid 34254 and 37312

Summary Tables of Studies
Studies Using Root Extracts

Safety/Toxicology

• In dogs, the no adverse effect level was 100 mg/kg/day of a hexane extract of Lithospermum, given for 28 days (Nam et al 2015).
• In Wistar rats, no tox at 800 mg/kg/day of an ethanol extract of Arnebia given for 6 months (Su et al, 2013).
• In Sprague Dawley rats, no adverse effect level at more than 400 mg/kg/day of ethanol extract from Lithospermum given for 28 days (Han et al 2015).
• In Fischer 344 rats, NOAEL of orally administered Lithospermum aqueous extract was higher than 2000 mg/kg/day over 13 weeks (Kim et al, 2019).

PYRROLIZIDINE ALKALOID (PA) CONTENT

Todos ensures the quality of its Tollovid product lines by meeting or beating the rigorous EU standards for pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of < 400 ug/kg. These alkaloids constitute a class of plant toxin associated with disease in humans and animals, and are commonly found in certain plant species that are used as food supplements. The US FDA has not yet set required standards for pyrrolizidine alkaloids.

Capsules from all commercial lots of Tollovid/Tollovid Daily have been tested by an external credentialed reference lab for the presence of PAs. All samples fell below the lower limit of detection for PA content (<5 ug/kg).