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Mutagenicity and antimutagenicity of Croton cajucara

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Abstract

Croton cajucara Benth. (‘sacaca’) is a tree of the Euphorbiaceae family, native to the Amazon region in northern Brazil, where it is widely used in the popular treatment of various diseases. Its active principle, the terpenoid trans-dehydrocrotonin, has been credited with a variety of medical properties, including antiulcer, antiinflammatory, antitumor, antimutagenic and hypoglycemic activity. In this investigation, possible mutagenic and antimutagenic effects were evaluated in treatments using methanol extract of this plant on Swiss Albino mice by examining their peripheral blood cells for micronuclei. In these tests, the material obtained by methanol extraction of C. cajucara tree bark was administered to the mice by gavage. None of the doses evaluated in this study presented mutagenicity. Analysis of the results obtained from studies evaluating antimutagenicity revealed protection against the chemotherapeutic agent cyclophosphamide for the two highest doses used.

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Abbreviations

b.w.:

body weight

CP:

cyclophosphamide

DCTN:

trans-dehydrocrotonin

DMSO:

dimethyl sulfoxide

ME:

methanol extract

MNRET:

micronucleated reticulocyte

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Author notes

  1. Fábio Vieira dos Santos & Vanessa Jaqueline da Silva Vieira dos Santos

    Present address: Instituto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Universidade do Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP), Avenida Shishima Hifumi, 2911, CEP: 12244-000, São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departmento de Biologia Geral, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), Londrina, PR, Brazil

    Fábio Vieira dos Santos, Maria José Farias, Suzana de Fátima Paccola Mesquita & Ilce Mara de Syllos Cólus

  2. Centro de Engenharias e Ciências Exatas, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNIOESTE), Toledo, PR, Brazil

    Vanessa Jaqueline da Silva Vieira dos Santos

  3. Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, Brazil

    Maria Aparecida Maciel

  4. Instituto de Química, Centro de Tecnologia, Bloco A, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Angelo da Cunha Pinto

Authors
  1. Fábio Vieira dos Santos
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  2. Vanessa Jaqueline da Silva Vieira dos Santos
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  3. Maria José Farias
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Correspondence to Fábio Vieira dos Santos.

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dos Santos, F.V., da Silva Vieira dos Santos, V.J., Farias, M.J. et al. Mutagenicity and antimutagenicity of Croton cajucara . Biologia 63, 327–331 (2008). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-008-0064-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11756-008-0064-5

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