ABSENCE OF MICRONUCLEI IN THE BONE MARROW OF MICE TREATED WITH ESSENTIAL OIL OF Minthostachys verticillata

ESCOBAR F.M.; SABINI C.; CARIDDI L.; SUTIL S.; TORRES C.; ZANON S.; SABINI L.

Jornada; XXVII Jornadas Científicas organizadas por la Sociedad de Biología de Tucumán; 2010

Minthostachys verticillata (peperina) is a plant of great ethnobotanical, pharmacological and commercial interest. Different extracts of this vegetable showed antimicrobial and immunomodulatory activities in vitro. However, its genotoxic effects have not been investigated. This study evaluated the genotoxic activity of essential oil (EO) of M. verticillata after administration in mice. BALB/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with 0.2 mL of a single dose of EO (25, 50, 100, 250 and 500 mg/Kg) diluted in saline solution and Tween 80 (0.5% v/v). The positive control group received Cyclophosphamide (20 mg/kg). The animals were sacrificed at 24h and 48h. One thousand polychromatic erythrocytes (PCE) were counted to determine number of micronuclei (MN) and PCE/ normochromatic erythrocytes (NCE) was calculated by counting 250 PCE to determine toxicity index (TI). Statistical analysis was performed. The average percentage of EPCMN in the negative control group was 0.23(±0.05) and 0.18(±0.14) at 24h and 48h respectively. These values were similar to those induced by EO. Cyclophosphamide revealed a significant increase with respect to the control group. The estimated ratio of PCE/NCE showed no statistically significant alterations in hematopoiesis as a result of EO treatment. Data suggest that EO at these concentrations is innocuous since it does not exert genotoxicity.