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Cytogenotoxic study of aqueous fruit extract of Morinda citrifolia in Wistar albino rats

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Abstract

The use of herbal products and/or their derivatives as an alternative or complementary medicine becomes globally popular. To date, various biological activities have been reported in Morinda citrifolia Linn, especially antioxidants, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects. This study aimed to investigate the genotoxicity and DNA repair capacity of the aqueous fruit extract of M. citrifolia (AEMC). Additionally, we checked the mutagenic capacity of AEMC by the comet assay and micronucleus tests in rats. For this, rats (n = 10; 5 males and 5 females) were divided into five groups as: negative control (distilled water); positive control (25 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide, i.p.); and three groups for AEMC (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p.). The results suggest that, the AEMC induced genotoxicity in white blood cells, but a DNA repair capacity was also observed after 72 h of AEMC exposure. AEMC also showed cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in liver and kidney cells of rats at 5 and 10 mg/kg doses. In conclusion, AEMC exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mutagenicity along with a time-dependent DNA repair capacity in rats. Further studies are necessary regarding the safe use of this medicinal plant for human consumption.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Brazilian agencies Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Piauí (FAPEPI) for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Postgraduate Program in Genetic and Applied Toxicology, Lutheran University of Brazil, Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, 92.425-900, Brazil

    Germano Pinho de Moraes & Jaqueline Nascimento Picada

  2. Northeast Biotechnology Program (RENORBIO), Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Science, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Piauí, 64.009-550, Brazil

    Marcus Vinícius Oliveira Barros de Alencar, Débora Cássia Vieira Gomes, Márcia Fernanda Correia Jardim Paz & Ana Amélia de Carvalho Melo-Cavalcante

  3. Postgraduate Program in Pharmaceutical Science, Federal University of Piauí, Teresina, Piauí, 64.009-550, Brazil

    Lidiane da Silva Araújo & Ana Amélia de Carvalho Melo-Cavalcante

  4. Department for Management of Science and Technology Development, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Muhammad Torequl Islam

  5. Faculty of Pharmacy, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam

    Muhammad Torequl Islam

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  1. Germano Pinho de Moraes
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Correspondence to Muhammad Torequl Islam.

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Ethical statement

The protocols were approved by the Ethical Committee on Animal Research at NOVAFAPI (Process No. #0039/10) and are in accordance with the national (Colégio Brasileiro de Experimentação Animal—COBEA) and international standard for the care and use of experimental laboratory animals.

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This manuscript described has not been published before; not under consideration for publication anywhere else; and has been approved by all co-authors.

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de Moraes, G.P., de Alencar, M.V.O.B., Araújo, L.d. et al. Cytogenotoxic study of aqueous fruit extract of Morinda citrifolia in Wistar albino rats. Orient Pharm Exp Med 19, 311–321 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-019-00358-0

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