Investigation of genotoxic activity of trans-dehydrocrotonin, a clerodane diterpene from Croton cajucara.

The genotoxic action of three doses of trans-dehydrocrotonin (t-DCTN), an active ingredient obtained from the bark extracts of an Amazon native plant, Croton cajucara, were examined in Swiss mouse bone marrow cells in vivo, submitted to acute intraperitoneal treatment, by micronucleus (MN) and chromosomal aberration (CA) tests. The statistical tests (Anova and Tukey) made to compare the results obtained in each of the three doses of t-DCTN with the negative-control group showed that the frequencies of MN and mitotic index were equal to the negative-control and that the frequencies of CA were lower than that observed in the negative-control. Therefore, based on our results it can be said that t-DCTN is not genotoxic nor cytotoxic to mouse bone marrow cells, submitted to acute intraperitoneal treatment in vivo. Teratogenesis Carcinog. Mutagen. 19:377-384, 1999.