Genotoxicity of Ecballium elaterium (L) A Rich Cucurbitaceae Fruit Juice Using Micronucleus Assay and DNA Single Strand Break Techniques.

摘要

This study was designed to investigate the genotoxicity of the Ecballium elaterium crude fruit juice, which is applied for treatment of jaundice as a traditional folk medicine in Jordan. The LD50 was estimated to be 61μl of the juice administered via the gastric route. The potential genotoxicity of E. elaterium was examined by micronucleus (MN) assay and DNA single strand break (SSB) techniques. The results showed that the fruit juice significantly induced the MN formation and SSB in the DNA by the oral administration of E. elaterium extract in the test groups as compared to the control. Thus, the data suggest that E. elaterium extract may have the potential to induce genotoxicity. Introduction Medicinal plants play an important role in the life of people in many countries and its use increases more and more all over the world. Green plants are generally containing mutagenic and carcinogenic substances, but there is little information about the biological activities of herbal medicine.[1]. Ecballium elaterium (L.) (‘‘squirting cucumber'‘ or ‘‘donkey's green'‘) is a perennial plant from the family Cucurbitaceae, a mediterranean medicinal plant that has been investigated for its several pharmacological properties.[2,3,4,5,6,7] Ecballium elaterium has a large fleshy root, from which several round, thick, rough stems rise, branching and trailing like the common cucumber, but without tendrils. The leaves are petiolate, large, rough, irregularly cordate, and of a grayish-green color. The flowers are yellow and axillary. The fruit has the shape of a small oval cucumber, about an inch and a half long and one inch thick. It has a greenish or grayish color, and is covered with stiff hairs or prickles. When fully ripe, it separates from the peduncle, and throws out its juice and seeds with considerable force through an opening at the base, where it was attached to the footstalk. The name of squirting cucumber was derived from this circumstance, and the scientific and official title (elaterium) is supposed to have had a similar origin, though some authors maintain that the term elaterium was applied to the drug rather from the mode of its operation upon the bowels than from the projectile property of the fruit. The word elaterium was used by Hippocrates to signify any active purge. Dioscorides applied it to the medicine of which we are treating. [8, 9] The ripe fruit is about 4 cm long of yellow-green color. The name ‘‘squirting cucumber'‘ comes from the tendency of the ripe fruit to explode upon the slightest touch, with its dark seeds and juice ejected at a distance of several meters. [10, 11] Herbal medicine recommends it for the treatment of chronic sinusitis or rhinosinusitis [7, 12] It is also recommended for liver cirrhosis as well as other conditions thought to be inflammatory in nature including rheumatism and infections [13] The juice of Ecballium elaterium fruit is a well-known powerful hydragogue cathartic in folk medicine and is also used for its diuretic activity, especially in edema caused by kidney troubles. Ecballium elaterium roots were used, in Anatolian folk medicine, as analgesic and in treatment of hemorrhoids; fruits in sinusitis, jaundice, nocturia, lumbago and otalgia [7, 11, 14, 15]The active antiinflammatory principal is cucurbitacin B, a triterpene derivative isolated from fruits and seeds of the plant [11, 13] The building block of terpenes is isoprene or 2-methyl 1,3-butadiene, precursor of essential oils found in many plants. [15] The significance of this study depends on the facts that Ecballium elaterium is a mediterranean medicinal plant used as an analgesic and in treatment of hemorrhoids; fruits in sinusitis, jaundice, nocturia, lumbago and otalgia as well as other conditions thought to be inflammatory in nature including rheumatism and infections. Accordingly, we found it of special interest to investigate the effect, if there is any, of its fruit juice on the genetic material.The objectives of the stu