A crude extract of Allium sativum (100 mg/kg b.w./day) was administered orally to Swiss albino mice with a normal diet for 30 days. Sodium arsenite, a known cytotoxic agent, was given subcutaneously in normal saline to mice (0.1 mg/kg b.w. == 1/50 of LD50) on days 7,14,21 AND 30 of experiments. Chromosomal studies were conducted on bone marrow preparations following the colchicine-air-drying Giemsa schedule. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations was significantly lower in animals maintained on crude plant extract as a dietary supplement during exposure to sodium arsenite as compared to those treated with arsenite alone. A crude extract of Allium sativum thus protects against the clastogenicity of sodium arsenite. © 1993 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.

T DAS

A R CHOUDHURY

A SHARMA

G TALUKDER

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University Of Calcutta

Modification of Cytotoxic Effects of Inorganic Arsenic by a Crude Extract of Allium sativum L. in Mice

Pharmaceutical Biology

The efficacy of infusion of black tea leaf, Camellia sinensis (Linn.) O. Kuntze (Theaceae), in reducing the cytotoxic effects of two heavy metal salts, chromium and arsenic, was tested in bone marrow cells of mice following dietary administration. Mice were given black tea infusion by gavage twice daily, in concentrations simulating human consumption, for 6 days. On day 7 after treatment with tea, separate sets of mice were given single doses of potassium dichromate and sodium arsenite, then killed after 24 h. Control sets were treated with potassium dichromate or sodium arsenite separately and also observed after 24 hours. The concentration of each salt corresponded to 1/10th of its LD50 value. Chromosomes were studied from bone marrow cells following the usual colchicine-hypotonic-fixation-air-drying Giemsa schedule. Both metallic salts were highly clastogenic when given alone, inducing a high frequency of chromosomal aberrations as compared with distilled water. Tea alone, given twice daily for 6 days, was not clastogenic. When mice, given tea twice daily for previous 6 days, were treated with either of the two salts on day 7, the degree of chromosome damage induced was reduced significantly as compared with the salts given alone. This reduction was more significant for sodium arsenite as compared with potassium dichromate. Such protection against arsenic cytotoxicity by prolonged dietary administration of black tea infusion is of importance in view of the widespread exposure of human population to arsenic damage through drinking water from tubewells in West Bengal, India and adjoining Bangladesh.

Protection by black tea extract against chromosome damage induced by two heavy metals in mice

Arsenic, a well-known human carcinogen present as a contaminant in ground water poses a serious threat to public health in various countries. The anticlastogenic properties of two dietary supplements, garlic and mustard oil, were screened against the clastogenic activity of sodium arsenite, since diet may contain factors which affect the process of mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. Aqueous extract of garlic (100 mg/kg b.w.) and mustard oil (0.643 mg/kg b.w.) were fed to Mus musculus for 30 consecutive days either singly or simultaneously. Sodium arsenite (0.1 mg/kg b.w.) was injected subcutaneously on days 7, 14, 21 and 30 of the experiment, singly and together with the dietary supplements. The animals were sacrificed 24 h after the last exposure to sodium arsenite and clastogenic effects were observed in the bone marrow cells. The degree of modulation of sodium arsenite-induced chromosomal aberrations was more pronounced in mustard oil than in garlic extract and simultaneous administration of both the dietary supplements reduced the clastogenic effects of sodium arsenite closer to the level of the negative control. The greater efficacy could be due to the interaction of the two dietary supplements and its radical scavenging property.

Cancer Letters

Mustard oil and garlic extract as inhibitors of sodium arsenite-induced chromosomal breaks in vivo

Mice were fed by gavage crude garlic extract (100 mg/kg b.wt.) for 30 consecutive days. One set was administered sodium arsenite (0.1 mg/kg b.wt.) simultaneously. Another set was treated with sodium arsenite only. Mice given distilled water were kept as negative control. Exposed mice from each set were sacrificed and bone marrow preparations examined for chromosomal aberrations and damaged cells. Sodium arsenite is a strong clastogen and the effects were reduced to a significant level by prolonged administration of garlic extract. For F1 studies, exposed male mice were mated with exposed female mice and the progeny examined. In the progeny, clastogenic effects of sodium arsenite persisted in a lower degree, indicating that the metal is able to cross the transplacental barrier. There was no statistically significant difference between the effects in progeny of parents only given sodium arsenite and those given both the metallic salt and garlic extract. Garlic extract is able to reduce the clastogenic effects of sodium arsenite when given simultaneously for prolonged periods in the parents; however, the effect is meagre in the next generation.

Mutation Research - Environmental Mutagenesis and Related Subjects

Dietary garlic extract in modifying clastogenic effects of inorganic arsenic in mice: Two-generation studies

Three concentrations (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight) of fresh garlic (Allium sativum L.) were administered daily by gavage to Swiss albino mice for different durations up to 60 days. These concentrations had been observed to protect significantly against effects of known clastogens. The endpoints scored were frequencies of chromosomal aberrations and damaged cells induced in bone marrow preparations. These parameters were found to be directly dose dependent and after an initial enhancement at 7 days, were reduced following prolonged exposure for 30 and 60 days to the low level observed at 24 hr. Therefore, administration of a low concentration of garlic extract daily is suggested for at least 30 days to obtain the maximum benefit of the extract in protecting against the clastogenic effects of known genotoxicants.

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Effects of crude garlic extract on mouse chromosomes in vivo

Onions and Allied Crops

Therapeutic and Medicinal Values of Onions and Garlic

Asian International Journal of Social Sciences

Development of innovation learning center in higher education institution

Nature India

Hantavirus strikes India

Who's Who

Mckerrow, June, (born 17 June 1950), charity advisor; Director, Mental Health Foundation, 1992–2000

Sadhana

Biomimetics

Modification of cytotoxic effects of inorganic arsenic by a crude extract of allium sativum L. In mice

Journal	Pharmaceutical Biology
Publisher	Informa Healthcare
ISSN	1388-0209