title: In vitro genotoxic evaluation of the medicinal plant Chenopodium ambrosioides L.
abstract: Chenopodium ambrosioides (Chenopodiaceae) is an anthelmintic herb used in Latin-America's folk medicine. The aim of this work is to evaluate genetic damage induced by decoction and infusion of this plant which were assayed in different concentrations (1, 10, 100, 1000 microg/ml), by addition of the extract to human lymphocyte cell cultures. The endpoints evaluated were chromosomal aberrations (CA), sister chromatid exchanges (SCE), cell proliferation kinetics (CPK) and mitotic indexes (MI). The repeated measure analysis of variance was used for statistic evaluation of the results. The results showed (a) a statistical increase in the percentage of cells with CA and in the frequency of SCE when cultures were exposed to both preparations of Paico, (b) a decrease in MI of both preparations assayed, although no modification in the CPK values either in the infusion or in the decoction was observed. These results suggest a possible genotoxic effect of both preparations, probably due to different active principles.
authors.affiliation: Citogenética y Genética Toxicológica, Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Junín 956-1113-Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina. abgadano@dbc.ffyb.uba.ar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gurni
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carballo
mesh_terms: D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D027464:Chenopodium ambrosioides / Q000633:toxicity*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D008940:Mitotic Index; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000633:toxicity*; D012854:Sister Chromatid Exchange / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D010936:Plant Extracts