Genotoxic and antiproliferative properties of bark aqueous extract.

The bark extract from has been widely used in traditional medicine to treat gynecological-related disorders, diabetes, and dyslipidemias albeit without scientific proof. In addition, bark extract safety, especially regarding mutagenic activities, is not known. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition, antitumor, and toxicological parameters attributed to an bark aqueous extract. The phytochemical constitution was assessed by colorimetric and chromatographic analyzes. The antiproliferative effect was determined using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay using 4 cancer cell lines. Cytotoxic and genotoxic activities were assessed utilizing MTT and comet assays, respectively, while mutagenicity was determined through micronucleus and /microsome assays. The chromatographic analysis detected predominantly the presence of gallic acid and isoquercitrin. The antiproliferative effect was more pronounced in human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines. In the MTT assay, the extract presented an IC = 39.1 µg/ml and exhibited genotoxic (comet assay) and mutagenic (micronucleus test) activities at 20 and 40 µg/ml in mouse fibroblast cell line (L929) and mutagenicity in the TA102 and TA97a strains in the absence of S9 mix. Data demonstrated that bark possesses bioactive compounds which exert cytotoxic and genotoxic effects that might be associated with its antitumor potential. Therefore, bark aqueous extract consumption needs to be approached with caution in therapeutic applications.