Sambucus australis (sabugueiro) has been used to treat inflammatory and rheumatologic disorders. Blood constituents labeled with technetium-99m (99mTc) have been used in nuclear medicine to obtain diagnostic images. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of a sabugueiro extract on the labeling of blood cells with 99mTc. Blood samples from Wistar rats were incubated with sabugueiro extract and the radiolabeling assay of blood constituents was carried out. After centrifugation, samples of plasma and blood cells were separated. Aliquots of plasma and blood cells were precipitated with trichloroacetic acid and centrifuged to isolate soluble and insoluble fractions. The radioactivity in each fraction was counted and the percentage of activity (%ATI) was determined. Incubation with sabugueiro extract altered significantly (p<0.05) the %ATI incorporated to the blood constituents. These results could be explained due the presence of chemical substances in the sabugueiro extract that present redox and/or chelating action altering the labeling of the blood constituents with 99mTc.
Sambucus australis; blood constituents; technetium-99m
