Toxicological and toxicogenetic effects of plants used in popular medicine and in cattle food

Toxicological and toxicogenetic effects of aqueous (tea) and hexanic fruit extract of Indigofera suffruticosa Mill. and hydroalcoholic root extract of Solanum agrarium Stendt. were evaluated in Balb C male mice intraperitoneally exposed. A hepatotoxic effect was observed just for animals treated with aqueous fruit extract of I. suffruticosa. In relation to the toxicogenetic effect, just the group treated with 12.5% of toxic dose of aqueous fruit extract of I. suffruticosa showed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of cells with chromosome aberrations (cytogenetic effect), although a slight increase was also observed for the highest dose (25% of LD50) of hydroalcoholic root extract of S. agrarium. The results obtained show that before S. agrarium is used as medicine and before the wide use of I. suffruticosa in cattle food, careful evaluation must be done.

Cytogenetic effects of malathion insecticide on somatic and germ cells of mice

Male mice dermally exposed to single or multiple treatment (5 days/2 weeks) showed that the ability of malathion to induce chromosome aberrations in somatic (bone marrow) and germ cells (primary spermatocytes) was related to the type of treatment and dose used. Statistically significant increases of chromosome aberrations in bone marrow cells occurred after single treatment (500 and 2000 mg/kg body wt) when chromatid gaps were included and after multiple treatment (250 and 500 mg/kg) when they were excluded. No dose-response relationships were observed for either treatment. In germ cells, malathion induced a significant increase of univalents in both types of treatment but structural chromosome aberrations were induced only by multiple treatment. Malathion induced a significant decrease of the mitotic indices in the bone marrow.

Activity of ethylene oxide in the mouse sperm morphology test

Inhaled ethylene oxide induced an increased frequency of abnormal sperm cells in mice when the animals were treated at 200 and 400 ppm (6 h per day; 5 days) in three stages of cell development: spermatozoa, spermatid and preleptotene spermatogonial cells. These results suggest that sperm head morphology changes can be induced by interference of ethylene oxide with spermatogenesis, which, depending on the stage of the treated germ cells, may be correlated with the mutagenic potential of this chemical agent.

Cytogenetic effects of inhaled ethylene oxide in somatic and germ cells of mice

The induction of cytogenetic effects by inhalation of ethylene oxide was tested in bone marrow cells and primary spermatocytes at diakinesis-metaphase I cells from mouse after a single treatment (6 h/1 day) at 0, 200, 400 and 600 ppm, and multiple treatment (6 h/5 days/2 weeks) at 0, 200 and 400 ppm. Ethylene oxide induced chromosomal aberrations in both somatic as well as in germ cells of mice. In the single treatment the response observed for germ cells was not equivalent to that observed for somatic cells. In the latter there was a greater sensibility for bone marrow cells. With multiple treatment the effects on the chromosomes were equivalent in somatic and in germ cells.