Cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic evaluation of Alibertia edulis (rich.) a. Rich. ex DC: an indigenous species from Brazil.

Tea leaves of Alibertia edulis is popularly used in folk medicine. However, studies on the genotoxicity of this plant are not available. We aimed to investigate the in vivo and in vitro cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic potentials of the aqueous extract of A. edulis leaves (AEAE). Antioxidant assays, the Artemia salina test, MTT in human platelets, micronucleus in bone marrow and comet in peripheral blood were performed. Animals received four different doses of the AEAE by oral gavage for 30 days. Saline and cyclophosphamide were used as controls. The AEAE exhibited a maximal inhibition at 100 and 250 µg/mL, according to the ABTS and DPPH methods, respectively. The A. salina assay showed that the AEAE presented some toxicity at doses of 100, 250 and 500 μg/mL. Through the MTT assay, the AEAE showed no toxic effects on human platelets during the incubation period. The alkaline comet assay showed that all doses of the AEAE were statistically similar to the negative control group since they did not induce any significant increase of the overall number of damaged cells nor the severity of the cell damage. In the micronucleous assay, results demonstrate that the AEAE did not increase the production of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes and was statistically similar to the negative control. The four doses of the plant extract did not affect the production of new erythrocytes and were statistically similar to the negative control groups. Furthermore, the AEAE demonstrated no cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mutagenicity at the doses tested in rats.