Investigation into the Genotoxicity of Water Extracts from Hypoxis Species and a Commercially Available Hypoxis Preparation

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 350 - 356
• Main Authors: Verschaeve, L, Mertens, B, Ndhlala, A. R, Anthonissen, R, Gorissen, B, Van Staden, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-03-2013; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Comet Assay; cytome test; cytotoxicity; DNA Damage; genotoxicity; Humans; Hypoxis - toxicity; Hypoxis hemerocallidea; Hypoxis sp; Mutagenicity Tests; Mutagens - toxicity; neutral red uptake test; Plant Extracts - toxicity; toxicity; water potential
• ISSN: 0951-418X; 1099-1573
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.4732

We performed an in vitro evaluation of the genotoxic potential of water extracts from four Hypoxis species (Hypoxis hemerocallidea, H. colchicifolia, H. rigidula, H. acuminata) and a commercial preparation thereof using the neutral red uptake (NRU) assay, the alkaline comet assay and the cytome assay in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The relative cytotoxicity of these samples was established by determining their NI₅₀ values (50% inhibition of NRU), and these results were used for dose‐finding in genotoxicity tests. None of the tested extracts were identified as genotoxic in both the alkaline comet assay and cytome assay. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.