three concentrations (250, 500, 1000) µg/ml of sage Salvia officinalis L. leaf aqueous extract were assessed for their anti-mutagenic potentials in cultured blood cells of 10 acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) patients and a similar number of apparently healthy controls. The parameter of assessment was micronucleus (MN) formation, which was either spontaneous or induced by a treatment with the mutagen cytostar 125 µg/ml, and accordingly, eight cultures were set-up. Blood cells in culture I was negative control (untreated cells), while in culture II, the cells were treated with the mutagen cytostar (cytarabine) at a concentration 125 µg/ml. Cultures III, IV and V were treated with the three concentrations of sage extract respectively, while in cultures VI, VII, VIII, interactions between the extract (the three concentrations respectively) and cytosar were carried out. The results demonstrated that ALL patients showed a significant increased frequency of MN formation in the eight cultures as compared to the corresponding cultures in healthy controls. With respect to the spontaneous formation of MN formation (cultures III, IV, V), the three concentrations of sage extract demonstrated a gradual significant reduction of MN frequency in patients (0.0144, 0.0098, 0.0062) MN/cell, respectively and control subjects (0.0104, 0.0076, 0.0038) MN/cell, respectively. In the induction cultures (VI, VII, VIII), a similar reduction was observed and the dose 1000 µg/ml exerted the highest reduction in both patients and controls (0.0108, 0.0086) MN/cell, respectively. These results demonstrate the anti-mutagenic importance of sage leaf aqueous extract.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the cytogenetic effects of the hexane extract of the plant Tribulus terrestris fruits. The cytogenetic evaluations involved mitotic index of bone marrow and spleen cells in albino male mice, micronucleus formation and sperm-head abnormalities. The micronucleus evaluations were further explored in blood lymphocyte cultures of healthy donors through an in vitro study. The search was carried out through three stages. In the first, the cytogenetic effects of three doses 5,10 and 20 mg/kg) of the plant extract were evaluated, while in the second stage, interactions Pre- and Post-treatments between the ideal dose 5 mg/kg of the plant extract and the drug Mitomycin-C (MMC). In stage three, the micronucleus formation was evaluated in the lymphocyte cultures of healthy individuals after treatment with three concentrations (5, 10 and 20 µg/ml) of the plant extract, in addition to interactions with the drug MMC which revealed significant mutagenic actions as judged by the investigated parameters. Reduced mitotic index, and increased frequencies of micronucleus formation (in vivo and in vitro) and sperm-head abnormalities were observed. The first stage revealed that the plant extract reduced the spontaneous formation of micronuclei and sperm-head abnormalities. The ideal dose 5 mg/kg of the plant extract was effective in modulating the mutagenic effects of the drug MMC. In this regard, the pre-treatment was more effective than post-treatment. The stage three showed that the plant extract was effective in reducing the spontaneous, as well as, MMC induced formation of micronuclei in lymphocyte cultures.

The aqueous extract (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg) of nut grass (Cyperus rotundus L.) rhizomes was evaluated orally in albino male mice using some haematological (total leucocyte count) and cytogenetic (mitotic index, micronucleus formation and chromosomal aberrations of bone marrow cells) parameters. The extract interaction with the mutagen mitomycin C (MMC) was also evaluated through two types of treatments (pre- and post-treatments). The results revealed that the dose 15 mg/kg of the extract significantly increased the total count of leucocytes (7634.4 vs. 6783.3 cells/cu.mm. blood), while the mitotic index showed no significant differences, as compared to negative controls. However, the spontaneous formation of micronuclei in the bone marrow cells was significantly decreased in the three investigated doses of the extract (0.30, 0.32 and 0.29, respectively vs. 0.62%), while the chromosomal assay showed similar frequencies in the negative control and nut grass-treated animals. With respect to the interaction with MMC, the pre-treatment (15 mg/kg) enhanced the leucocyte count (10358.6 vs. 3800.2 cells/cu.mm.blood) and mitotic index (11.9 vs. 6.5%), and a similar picture was drawn when the pos-treatment was considered (8884.2 vs. 4292.7 cells/cu.mm.blood; 14.6 vs. 7.6%). However, the doses 5 and 10 mg/kg of the plant extract were much more effective in reducing the MMC-induced micronucleus formation in both types of treatments especially the dose 5 mg/kg (pre-treatment: 4.24 vs. 16.29%; post-treatment: 3.79 vs. 14.34%). With respect to chromosomal aberration assay, the dose 15 mg/kg of the extract was the most effective dose in reducing the MMC-induced aberrations, but the post-treatment was better than pre-treatment in this respect (0.29 vs. 0.79 aberration/cell).

The present study was carried out with the aim to evaluate the hematological and cytogenetic effects of seed aqueous extract of the plant Ammi majus (0.5, 1.0, 1.5) mg/kg in albino male mice. The investigated parameters were total count of leucocytes (TLC), mitotic index (MI), micronucleus (MN) formation and chromosomal aberrations. The mitomycin C (MMC) was used as a mutagen in the interaction with the plant extract (pre- and post-treatment), with the aim to determine the antimutagenic efficiency of the plant extract, and in all cases, the materials were given orally. In the first treatment, the results indicated that the dose 1.5 mg/kg of the extract enhanced the parameters investigated and a significant increase was observed in TLC (10070 cells/cu.mm.blood) as compared to negative (7290 cells/cu.mm.blood) or positive (4910 cells/cu.mm.blood) controls, and such observation was positively correlated with the mitotic index. In contrast, the spontaneous formation of MN was significantly decreased in the three investigated doses of the extract. In pre- and post-treatment experiments, a similar picture was drawn, and the plant extract was able to modulate the mutagenic effects of MMC.