Department of Agadatantra, Vaidyaratnam P.S. Varier Ayurveda College, Kottakkal, Edarikode P.O, Malappuram, Kerala, India.
Department of Bio-Environmental Chemistry, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-Ro, Yuseung-Gu, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
J Infect Public Health. 2020 Feb;13(2):177-185. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2019.07.020. Epub 2019 Sep 30.
Environmental exposure to toxicants poses high risk to develop reproductive and developmental chronic toxicity in man. Toluene is one of the commonest industrial agents whose exposure is attributed with potential to induce reproductive and developmental toxicity. Since they contaminate the immediate environment of air and water to which humans are exposed, its containment is of great public health importance. Conventional treatment modalities fail owing to the difficulty to detect these highly volatile agents in environment and human body. The peril of such hazardous exposures is evident only when irreversible structural and functional damages have incurred. In such instances, prevention gains an upper hand when compared to therapeutic interventions. Several natural compounds derived from medicinal herbs possess potential to curb toxicities induced by such xenobiotic agents. Among them Boerhavia diffusa Linn. is a widely distributed and common herb attributed with antitoxic potential and capability for antioxidant defence. A study was performed on the prophylactic efficacy of aqueous extract of B. diffusa in curbing toluene induced developmental toxicity in Drosophila melanogaster.
The study consisted of a preliminary phytochemical screening and HPTLC profiling of B. diffusa aqueous extract (BDAE). LC of toluene was assessed and a sublethal dose of 200ppm was fixed for the study. Four doses of BDAE; 25, 50, 100 and 200mg/ml designated as Low dose, medium dose 1, medium dose 2 and high dose was used for the study. The parameters used for the study included the determination of larval period, pupal period, percentage of egg hatching, morphometric analysis of egg, larvae, pupae and adults, fertility, fecundity, lifespan and levels of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, glutathione-S-transferase and superoxide dismutase.
The phytochemical and HPTLC characters were as per the pharmacopoeial standards. LC of toluene was found to be 430ppm in this study. BDAE at medium dose 2 and high dose significantly prevented the deterioration of reproductive and developmental toxicity parameters of larval period, pupal period, percentage of egg hatching, morphometric characters of larva, pupa and adult, fertility, fecundity and lifespan in drosophila. Also the drug significantly elevated the levels of antioxidant enzymes.
Toluene exposure during lifetime is inevitable. B. diffusa, equipped with its rich active ingredients prevented toluene induced developmental and reproductive toxicity in Drosophila. This medicinal herb provides a ray of hope in preventing environmental toxin induced reproductive and developmental toxicity.
环境暴露于有毒物质会使人面临生殖和发育慢性毒性的高风险。甲苯是最常见的工业制剂之一，其暴露被认为具有诱导生殖和发育毒性的潜力。由于它们污染了空气和水等人类所处的直接环境，因此对其进行控制对公共健康非常重要。由于难以在环境和人体中检测到这些高挥发性物质，常规治疗方法均失败。只有当发生不可逆转的结构和功能损伤时，才能发现这种危险暴露的危害。在这种情况下，预防措施比治疗干预更具优势。一些源自草药的天然化合物具有抑制此类外源性毒物引起的毒性的潜力。其中，白花丹是一种分布广泛且常见的草药，具有抗毒性和抗氧化防御能力。本研究旨在探讨白花丹水提取物（BDAE）对甲苯诱导的果蝇发育毒性的预防作用。
本研究包括白花丹的初步植物化学筛选和 HPTLC 分析。评估了甲苯的液相色谱（LC），并确定了 200ppm 的亚致死剂量用于该研究。本研究使用了四个剂量的 BDAE：25、50、100 和 200mg/ml，分别称为低剂量、中剂量 1、中剂量 2 和高剂量。研究中使用的参数包括幼虫期、蛹期、卵孵化率、卵、幼虫、蛹和成虫的形态计量分析、生育力、繁殖力、寿命和过氧化氢酶、谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶和超氧化物歧化酶等抗氧化酶的水平。
白花丹的植物化学和 HPTLC 特征符合药典标准。本研究中甲苯的 LC 为 430ppm。中剂量 2 和高剂量的 BDAE 可显著预防甲苯对果蝇幼虫期、蛹期、卵孵化率、幼虫、蛹和成虫形态计量特征、生育力、繁殖力和寿命等生殖和发育毒性参数的恶化，并显著提高抗氧化酶的水平。
一生中接触甲苯是不可避免的。白花丹含有丰富的活性成分，可预防甲苯诱导的果蝇发育和生殖毒性。这种草药为预防环境毒素引起的生殖和发育毒性提供了一线希望。
