T. impetiginosa, known as "ipê-roxo", is a plant native to tropical rain forests of Central and South Americas. Chemical compounds obtained from its bark have shown anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antibacterial therapeutic effect. However, due to the lack of data in the literature, little is known about the effects of its flower extract. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the mutagenic and antimutagenic potential of the extract obtained from T. impetiginosa flowers at three different concentrations (100, 300 and 500 mg kg-1 p.c.) by the micronucleus test. For the mutagenicity test, doxorubicin (DXR, 90 mg kg-1 p.c.) was used as DNA-damage inducer, while for the antimutagenicity test, treatments with the extract were performed simultaneously with this chemical agent. The peripheral blood of animals was collected 24 hours after the treatments. The frequency of polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) in 400 erythrocytes/animal was compared among the different groups and showed no extract cytotoxicity. As regards the frequency of micronuclei in PCEs (PCEMNs), there were no significant differences between the groups treated with different concentrations of extract and the negative control. Similarly, all groups of animals that received the simultaneous extract treatments (100, 300 or 500 mg kg-1 p.c.) with DXR showed very similar values of PCEMNs when compared with the data observed for the group of animals that received DXR alone. These results indicate no mutagenic and antimutagenic effect of the extract obtained from T. impetiginosa flowers in the testing system in vivo.
mutagenicity; antimutagenicity; micronucleus test; Tabebuia impetiginosa
