title: A study on the mutagenicity of 102 raw pharmaceuticals used in Chinese traditional medicine.
abstract: The mutagenic potential of traditional Chinese drugs was studied. After extraction with boiling water and frozen vacuum drying, preparations from 102 raw drugs were tested with the Ames test, and the micronucleus and chromosomal aberration assays in mice in vivo. Astragalus mongholicus Bunge (+S9), Sophora japonica L. (+/- S9) and Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (+/- S9) were found to significantly induce His+ revertants in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and/or TA100. Besides these 3, 10 other extracts were positive in the chromosomal aberration and micronucleus assays in mice. They are Datura metal L., Artemisia capillaris Thunb., Carthamus tinctorius L., Forsythia suspensa Thumb., Rehmannia glutinosa f. Hueichingensis (fermented), Paeonia suffruticosa Andr., Platycodon grandiflorum Jacq. DC., Cinnamomum mairei Levl., Notopterygium incisium Ting., and Sophora flavescens Ait. The relevance of these findings is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Western Region Hospital, Urumuqi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: X J
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: D X
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002681:China; D004247:DNA / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000633:toxicity*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D004247:DNA