Assessment of genotoxicity and cytotoxicity of "lixeira" (Curatella americanaL.) λ using the prophage induction test (SOS inductest)

Abstract

Curatella americana L., commonly known as "lixeira" in Brazil, has been used in folk medicine to treat ulcers and inflammations. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of the ethanolic extract of C. americana stem bark using the prophage λ induction test (SOS inductest). To evaluate the cytotoxicity of this plant, after treatment with different concentrations of the extract, Escherichia coli WP2s(λ) cultures were diluted in M9 buffer, inoculated into LB plates, and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C. To assess genotoxicity, the lysogenic strain E. coli WP2s(λ) was treated with different concentrations of the extract. Then, the lysogenic strain was added to the indicator strain (RJF013), LB (1/2)(malt/amp) , seeded into plates with the matches, and incubated for 24 h at 37 °C. After this period, the total number of colonies and the number of plaques were counted to evaluate C. americana cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, respectively. Our results showed that although the extract of "lixeira" did not modify the survival of bacteria (p > 0.05), it caused a significant increase in prophage λ induction, especially at the higher concentrations (p<0.05). Therefore, we conclude that the ethanolic extract of C. americana stem bark did not present cytotoxic effect, but some genotoxic potential was observed.Uniterms: Curatella americana. Lixeira. Cytotoxicity. Genotoxicity. Lysogenic induction.Curatella americana L., comumente conhecida como "lixeira" no Brasil, é utilizada em medicina popular para tratamento de úlceras e inflamações. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o potencial citotóxico e genotóxico do extrato etanólico das cascas de C. americana utilizando o Induteste SOS. Para avaliar a citotoxicidade da planta, depois de tratadas com diferentes concentrações do extrato, culturas de E. coli WP2s(λ) foram diluídas em tampão M9 e semeadas em placas LB. Para avaliar a genotoxicidade da planta, a cepa lisogênica WP2s(λ) de E. coli foi tratada com diferentes concentrações do extrato. Em seguida, esta foi adicionada à cepa indicadora (RJF013) e ambas foram semeadas em placas em meio LB (1/2)(malt)(amp) . Todas as culturas foram incubadas por 24 h a 37 °C. Posteriormente, o número total de colônias e o número de centros infecciosos foram computados para a avaliação da citotoxidade e da genotoxicidade desta planta, respectivamente. Os resultados mostraram que embora o extrato de C. americana não tenha modificado a sobrevivência bacteriana (p > 0,05), provocou aumento significativo (p < 0,05) na indução do profago λ, especialmente nas concentrações mais altas. Assim, concluiu-se que o extrato etanólico das cascas de C. americana não apresentou atividade citotóxica, mas foi observada ação genotóxica direta.Unitermos: Curatella americana. Lixeira. Citotoxicidade. Genotoxicidade. Indução lisogênica.

New records of spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) from the state of Roraima, northern Brazil

“…Scytodes fusca and in almost all of Brazil, especially in the Cerrado biome (Sarmiento and Monasterio 1983;Vilar et al 2009), further sampling effort from the barks of C. americana should be made. This may provide more precise information on the natural history of T. gomezi.…”

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“…Fruits are ovoid, dark reddish-brown to black, arillate, and glabrous. [9] Plants of Dilleniaceae family play an important role in traditional medicine, and some of them are used for arthritis, diabetes, [10,11] dysentery, hepatitis, blennorrhagia, [12] and to treat gastrointestinal disorders, inflammation, [13][14][15][16] hemorrhoids, wounds, [17] and leishmanial ulcers. [18] Studies have shown that extracts from of them as well as their isolated compounds possess diverse biological activities, including antihemorrhagic, [19] antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, [20,21] antitumoral, [22] antiulcer, immunological, [23] and cancer chemoprevention.…”

Antigenotoxic, and anticytotoxic activities of an ethanolic extract of Lafoensia pacari (Lythraceae) stem bark in bacteria and mice

“…However, many plants can also pose health risks since they exhibit cytotoxic (Silva et al, 2012), genotoxic (Vilar et al, 2009a), and mutagenic activities ). Long-term use of genotoxic compounds can cause DNA damage and promote the development of degenerative diseases, such as cancer .…”