Estudo de toxicidade reprodutiva e potencial mutagênico de fitoterápico contendo Cinchona calisaya, Jateorhiza palmata, Centaurim erythraea, Baccharis trimera, Artemisia absinthium, Matricaria recutita e Cinnamomum cassia / Study of the reproductive toxicity and mutagenic potential of a herbal medicine containing Cinchona calisaya; Jateorhiza palmata, Centaurim erythraea, Baccharis trimera, Artemisia absinthium, Matricaria recutita and Cinnamomum cassia

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

26/07/2011

RESUMO

The use of medicinal plants is widespread, and most herbal medicines are marketed for sale without prescription. One of the main problems in the use of these products is the belief that plant products are free of toxic effects. Pregnant women constitute a group that traditionally uses herbal medicines, believing that they cause no damage to the fetus. The herbal compound (Água Inglesa ), which is composed of an association of Cinchona calisaya (quinina); Jateorhiza palmata (calumba); Centaurim erythraea (fel-da terra); Baccharis trimera (carqueja); Artemisia absinthium (losna); Matricaria recutita (camomila) and Cinnamomum cassia (canela da china), is marketed for its tonic and laxative effects. However, its empirical use is widespread as a treatment for infertility. This study is the first to investigate this compound and its effects on reproduction in female BALB/c mice. The compound was administered daily for 42 days at three different doses, covering the periods of pre-mating, mating and embryogenesis development. We evaluated the clinical signs of toxicity, variation in body mass and liver weight, as well as the variables that may indicate reproductive toxicity in mating, pregnancy, pre- and post-implantation loss, placental index (weight of placenta/fetal weight), major malformations, and mutagenic potential of the micronuclei in the bone marrow of mice. The results show that the herbal formulation investigated did not cause systemic toxicity, and did not affect reproductive performance when administered orally at a proportional dose to that used in humans, for 42 days, in female mice. Also, no genotoxic effect was observed capable of inducing mutations. The group that received three times the dose recommended for humans showed a higher (p = 0,001) placental index than the other groups, indicating a maternal toxic effect that had a negative indirect affect on the weight of the fetus. At a dose of 2000mg/kg, under the experimental conditions, no mutagenic or cytotoxic effect was observed. Thus, Água Inglesa can be considered relatively harmless, provided it is administered at the dose indicated

ASSUNTO(S)

toxicidade reprodutiva mutagenicidade camundongos farmacia matéria médica vegetal herbal medicine toxicity fitoterápico mice reproductive mutagenicity

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