Shim Soon-Mi, Choi Mi-Hee, Kim Gun-Hee
Department of Food and Nutrition, Duksung Women's University, Dobong-Gu, Seoul, South Korea.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2008 Mar;46(3):1042-7. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2007.10.036. Epub 2007 Nov 5.
Much attention is recently gained for Elsholtzia splendens extracts and issue on their usage is raised due to their biological properties. However, there is no sufficient background information on toxicological evaluation of E. splendens extracts to give an assurance of safety for developing dietary supplements and functional foods. The objective of this study was to evaluate safety on E. splendens extracts using acute oral toxicity, bacterial reverse mutation, and chromosome aberration test. Total flavonoids within E. splendens were extracted with 80% of methanol by a reflux condenser. Both female and male mice were orally administrated E. splendens extracts at the dose of 0, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg body weight/day. Mutagenicity of the extracts was evaluated in a bacterial reverse mutation assay using histidine requiring Salmonella typhimurium (TA 98, TA 100, TA 1535, and TA 1537) and tryptophan-requiring Escherichia coli (WP2uvrA). In vitro chromosome aberration assay in Chinese Hamster Lung (CHL) was conducted to evaluate genotoxicity. Single administration of dose levels of 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg body weight/day to mice for 15 days did not produce any significant mortality, clinical signs, body weight loss, and gross findings. E. splendens extracts in the range of 156.3-5000 microg/plate did not induce mutagenicity in S. typhimurium and E. coli with and without metabolic activation system. Any significant chromosomal aberration was not observed in CHL cells 6h after treating with the extract at the concentrations of 1250, 2500, and 5000 microg/mL in absence and presence of metabolic activation system. However, frequency of chromosomal aberration in 22 h after treatment without metabolic activation system was increased with showing a pattern of dose-response relationship. The highest concentration of 5000 microg/mL significantly induced chromosomal aberration. E. splendens extracts may induce chromosomal structure abnormality in CHL cells. This study suggests that further study is needed to assess the potential genotoxic effects of E. splendens extracts.
近来，海州香薷提取物备受关注，鉴于其生物学特性，人们对其使用问题也提出了质疑。然而，关于海州香薷提取物毒理学评估的背景信息并不充分，无法确保其用于开发膳食补充剂和功能性食品的安全性。本研究的目的是通过急性经口毒性试验、细菌回复突变试验和染色体畸变试验来评估海州香薷提取物的安全性。海州香薷中的总黄酮用80%的甲醇通过回流冷凝器进行提取。将雌性和雄性小鼠按0、500、1000和2000mg/kg体重/天的剂量经口给予海州香薷提取物。使用需要组氨酸的鼠伤寒沙门氏菌（TA 98、TA 100、TA 1535和TA 1537）和需要色氨酸的大肠杆菌（WP2uvrA），通过细菌回复突变试验评估提取物的致突变性。采用中国仓鼠肺（CHL）细胞进行体外染色体畸变试验以评估遗传毒性。对小鼠按500、1000和2000mg/kg体重/天的剂量单次给药15天，未产生任何显著的死亡率、临床症状、体重减轻和大体检查结果。在有和没有代谢活化系统的情况下，海州香薷提取物在156.3 - 5000μg/平板范围内均未在鼠伤寒沙门氏菌和大肠杆菌中诱导致突变性。在没有和有代谢活化系统的情况下，用浓度为1250、2500和5000μg/mL的提取物处理CHL细胞6小时后，未观察到任何显著的染色体畸变。然而，在没有代谢活化系统的情况下，处理22小时后染色体畸变频率增加，并呈现出剂量 - 反应关系模式。最高浓度5000μg/mL显著诱导了染色体畸变。海州香薷提取物可能会诱导CHL细胞中的染色体结构异常。本研究表明，需要进一步研究以评估海州香薷提取物潜在的遗传毒性作用。
