Abstract
Baccharis dracunculifolia is a plant native from Brazil, commonly known as ‘Alecrim-do-campo’ and ‘Vassoura’ and used in alternative medicine for the treatment of inflammation, hepatic disorders and stomach ulcers. Previous studies reported that artepillin C (ArtC, 3-{4-hydroxy-3,5-di(3-methyl-2-butenyl)phenyl}-2(E)-propenoic acid), is the main compound of interest in the leaves. This study was undertaken to assess the mutagenic effect of the ethyl acetate extract of B. dracunculifolia leaves (Bd-EAE: 11.4–182.8 µg/plate) and ArtC (0.69–10.99 µg/plate) by the Ames test using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98, TA97a, TA100 and TA102, and to compare the protective effects of Bd-EAE and ArtC against the mutagenicity of a variety of direct and indirect acting mutagens such as 4-nitro-O-phenylenediamine, sodium azide, mitomycin C, benzo[a]pyrene, aflatoxin B1, 2-aminoanthracene and 2-aminofluorene.The mutagenicity test showed that Bd-EAE and ArtC did not induce an increase in the number of revertant colonies indicating absence of mutagenic activity. ArtC showed a similar antimutagenic effect to that of Bd-EAE in some strains of S. typhimurium, demonstrating that the antimutagenic activity of Bd-EAE can be partially attributed to ArtC. The present results showed that the protective effect of whole plant extracts is due to the combined and synergistic effects of a complex mixture of phytochemicals, the total activity of which may result in health benefits.
Highlights
Plants have been employed in medicine for more than 60,000 years
None of the strains of S. typhimurium, exposed to different concentrations of B. dracunculifolia leaves (Bd-EAE) and ArtC, showed two-fold or greater increase in the mean number of revertants as compared to the negative control group, as given in Table 1, which lists the mean number of revertants/plate (M), the standard deviation (SD) and the mutagenic index (MI) after the treatments with Bd-EAE and ArtC, observed in
Bd-EAE and ArtC alone had no mutagenic effect on the strains tested, either in the presence or absence of metabolic activation
Summary
Plants have been employed in medicine for more than 60,000 years. They are frequently employed without scientific knowledge of their biological and therapeutic properties. Scientific study of their chemical properties, biological activities or genotoxic properties has been emerging as a health priority [1]. Baccharis dracunculifolia De Candole (Asteraceae) is a native plant from Brazil, commonly known as ‘Alecrim-do-campo’ and ‘Vassoura’. Decoctions and tinctures prepared from the flowering plant are widely used in alternative medicine for the treatment of inflammation, hepatic disorders and stomach ulcers [3]. In recent years, interest in the chemical composition of B. dracunculifolia, as well as in its biological activities, has grown substantially [4]
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