Mutagenicity Testing of the Crude Extracts of 30 Chinese Drugs
摘要
To evaluate whether the commonly used Chinese drugs have mutagenicity, the crude extracts of 30 Chinese drugs were tested with the Salmonella/microsome (Ames) test and the in vitro unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) assay in the absence (-) or the presence (+) of S9 mix as a metabolic activator. In the Ames test, the results showed that at the dose of 0.25 g1plate the 50% ethanol extracts of Aristolochiae Fructus (ArF, -S9), Chrysanthemia Flos (ChF + and -S9), Evodiae Fructus (EvF, + and -S9), and Prunellae Spica (PrS+ and -S9), were mutagenic on Salmonella typhimurium TA98; whereas ArF (-S9) and Scutellariae Radix (ScR, -S9) were mutagenic on TA100. These drugs, except PrS, were negative at the dose of 0.125 g1plate. At the dose of 0.063 g/plate, PrS still showed mutagenic activity on TA98 in the presence of S9 mix. In contrast, the water extract of PrS was negative at the doses up to 0.31 g/plate. At the dose of 0.02 g/plate, the water extract of Coptidis Rhizoma (CoR) was mutagenic on TA98, but not on TA100. In the UDS assay with human fibroblast cells, the results showed that 30Chinese drugs (2-200mglml) decresed [3H] thymidine incorporation into DNA in a concentration-dependent manner. In the presence of 10 mM hydroxyurea, only Lycii Radicis Cortex (LyRC. 10-20 mg/ml) induced a 2-fold increase in UDS, suggesting that LyRC might contain substance(s) to cause DNA damage. In summary, the 50% ethanol extracts of ArF. ChF, EvF, LyRC, PrS, and ScR and the water extract of CoR were considered to have mutagenic potential.