O Mundo da Saúde (Jul 2020)
Evaluation of the protective cytogenetic activity of Parahancornia fasciculata (Apocynaceae)
Abstract
Parahancornia fasciculata is a large fruit tree, native to the Amazon region, where it is popularly known as “Amapazeiro”. It is widely used in folk medicine to assist in the treatment of several pathologies: malaria, lung problems, among other diseases. Thus, considering the usual use of this plant, the present study evaluated the protective cytogenetic action of Parahancornia fasciculata on polychromatic erythrocytes of Swiss mice. The animals received different concentrations of Parahancornia fasciculata (250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg b.w.) including positive (Doxorubicin, DXR, 16 mg/kg b.w.), negative (water), and vehicle (Dimethylsulfoxide, DMSO) control groups. Dosages were administered to the animals via gavage, as well as the negative control and vehicle; the positive control was administered intraperitoneally. The animals remained in the daily treatment with the respective doses for 15 days for genotoxic evaluation. Caudal peripheral blood samples were collected at 24h, 48h, 7 and 15 days. For the antigenotoxic evaluation, on the 14th day the mice were treated with intraperitoneal injections of DXR. Peripheral caudal blood samples were obtained at 24h and 48h. Subsequently, 2,000 polychromatic erythrocytes were counted per animal in each group, to assess the frequency of micronuclei. The results showed that the methanolic extract of Parahancornia fasciculata was not genotoxic, as it did not present statistically significant differences when compared to the negative control. Animals treated with the different concentrations of Parahancornia fasciculata extract associated with DXR, obtained a significant reduction in Micronucleated Polychromatic Erythrocytes when compared to the positive control. Therefore, the methanolic extract of Parahancornia fasciculata demonstrated a protective action against DNA damage induced by DXR and did not demonstrate a genotoxic effect.
