Hoyos L S, Au W W, Heo M Y, Morris D L, Legator M S
University of Cauca, Department of Biology, Papayan, Colombia.
Mutat Res. 1992 Jul;280(1):29-34. doi: 10.1016/0165-1218(92)90015-r.
Crude extract from a plant known as Petiveria alliacea (Anamu) is used extensively as folk medicine in developing countries like Colombia, South America. Although the plant is known to contain toxic ingredients potential adverse health effects from its use have not been adequately evaluated. We investigated its genotoxic activities by conducting a sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assay using cells in vitro and in vivo. Lymphocytes from humans were treated at 24 h after initiation of culture for 6 h with alcohol extract from the folk medicine. Concentrations of 0, 10, 100, 250, 275, 500, 750, and 1000 micrograms/ml of the extract were used. Significant dose-dependent increase of SCE (3.7-7.4 SCE per cell) were observed (analysis of variances, p less than 0.01). Delay in cell proliferation but not inhibition of mitosis was also observed. In another experiment, mice were exposed once orally to 1x, 200x, 300x and 400x the human daily consumption dose of Anamu. The induction of sister chromatid exchanges in bone marrow cells were investigated. We observed a significant dose dependent increase of SCE compared with the saline control (2.15-4.53; p less than 0.01) and compared with the solvent control (3.04-4.53; p less than 0.01). Our data suggest, therefore, that the folk medicine contains mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic agents although the medicine is not a potent mutagen. Individuals who consume large amounts of this drug may be at risk for development of health problems. Further studies with cells from exposed individuals and from experimental animals should be conducted to provide a better evaluation of health risk from the use of this drug.
一种名为蒜臭草（Anamu）的植物的粗提取物在南美洲的哥伦比亚等发展中国家被广泛用作民间药物。尽管已知该植物含有有毒成分，但尚未对其使用可能产生的不良健康影响进行充分评估。我们通过在体外和体内细胞中进行姐妹染色单体交换（SCE）试验来研究其遗传毒性活性。在培养开始6小时后，用该民间药物的乙醇提取物处理人类淋巴细胞24小时。提取物的浓度分别为0、10、100、250、275、500、750和1000微克/毫升。观察到SCE显著的剂量依赖性增加（每个细胞3.7 - 7.4次SCE）（方差分析，p小于0.01）。还观察到细胞增殖延迟，但未观察到有丝分裂抑制。在另一项实验中，给小鼠口服一次相当于人类每日食用剂量1倍、200倍、300倍和400倍的蒜臭草。研究了骨髓细胞中姐妹染色单体交换的诱导情况。与生理盐水对照组相比（2.15 - 4.53；p小于0.01）以及与溶剂对照组相比（3.04 - 4.53；p小于0.01），我们观察到SCE有显著的剂量依赖性增加。因此，我们的数据表明，这种民间药物含有诱变剂和潜在致癌物，尽管该药物不是强效诱变剂。大量服用这种药物的个体可能有出现健康问题的风险。应该对暴露个体和实验动物的细胞进行进一步研究，以更好地评估使用这种药物带来的健康风险。
