Abstract
Tabebuia sp. is native to tropical rain forests throughout Central and South America. Although the biological and pharmacological effects of bark extracts have been intensely studied, little is known on the extract obtained from the flower. Herein, the genotoxic potential of a flower extract from T. impetiginosa (“ipê roxo”) on the blood and liver cells of Wistar rats was evaluated. Experimental procedures involved only male animals. Graduated concentrations of the extract, viz., 100, 300 and 500 mg kg−1 of body weight, were gavage-administered and 24 h latter cells were collected and processed for analysis. With the exception of the 100 mg kg−1 dose, a significant increase in DNA damage was noted, when compared with a negative control group. Although the genotoxic potential of this extract was higher in liver cells, the response in both tissues was related to dose-dependency. Even though DNA damage can be corrected before conversion into mutations, further study is recommended to arrive at a better understanding of incurred biological effects.
Highlights
Over the centuries, plants have been the main source of crude drugs used in the cure or alleviation of human sicknesses (Skalani and Kutty, 2008)
DNA damage in nucleoids of liver cells was significantly higher in the groups treated with the extract than in the negative control (p < 0.05) (Table 2)
27.0 20.3 125.8b 92.4 123.4b 133.2b aDNA damage Index = (0 x n0) + (1 x n1) + (2 x n2) + (3 x n3) + (4 x n4), where n = number of cells at the corresponding level of DNA damage (0-4). bsignificantly different when compared to negative control (p < 0.05)
Summary
Plants have been the main source of crude drugs used in the cure or alleviation of human sicknesses (Skalani and Kutty, 2008). In America, herbal therapies, together with various other traditional remedies, are generally classified under the heading of “alternative medicine”. The combination of this medical form, mainly involving the aforementioned traditional and folk remedies used worldwide, with conventional western medicine is termed “integrative medicine” (Itokawa et al, 2008). Extracts from the bark of this plant are known as “taheebo”, “lapacho”, “pau d’arco” or “ipê” Their most important components include naftoquinones, quinines, furanonaftoquinones, bezoic acid, ciclopentenes dialdehydes and flavonoids (Sharma et al, 1988; Koyama et al, 2000). Among the 84 studied, T. impetiginosa was the second most cited in ethnopharmocological literature, in the treatment or prevention of cancer and tumors (Melo et al, 2011)
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