Antinociceptive, genotoxic and histopathological study of Heliopsis longipes S.F. Blake in mice

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2010-07, Vol.130 (2), p.216-221
• Main Authors: Cariño-Cortés, R., Gayosso-De-Lucio, J.A., Ortiz, M.I., Sánchez-Gutiérrez, M., García-Reyna, P.B., Cilia-López, V.G., Pérez-Hernández, N., Moreno, E., Ponce-Monter, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetic Acid; Administration, Oral; Affinin; analgesia; analgesic effect; analgesics; Analgesics - administration & dosage; Analgesics - pharmacology; Analgesics - toxicity; animal models; Animals; Antinociceptive activity; Asteraceae; Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - drug effects; Brain - pathology; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cytotoxicity; Disease Models, Animal; dose response; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Erythrocytes - drug effects; Erythrocytes - pathology; ethanol; General pharmacology; Genotoxicity; H. longipes; Heliopsis; Heliopsis longipes; histopathology; Hot Temperature; Lethal Dose 50; Male; Medical sciences; medicinal plants; Mice; Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective - chemically induced; Micronucleus Tests; Mutagens - toxicity; no observed adverse effect level; Pain - etiology; Pain - prevention & control; Pain Threshold - drug effects; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; plant extracts; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - toxicity; Plant Roots; risk assessment; toxicity; toxicity testing
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.04.037

The present study describes antinociceptive, genotoxic and histopathological of Heliopsis longipes S.F. Blake. These findings would be an important contribution to explain the use of H. longipes root as an effective analgesic in traditional medicine, and to establish for the first time the absence of genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of the root in bioactive doses in vivo. H. longipes S.F. Blake (Asteraceae) is a Mexican plant, whose roots are traditionally used as a condiment, as a mouth anesthetic, and as an antiparasitic. Affinin is the alkamide present in higher amounts in the roots of H. longipes. To date, there are no published studies regarding the relation between the analgesic properties, in vivo cytotoxicity, and DNA-damaging potential of H. longipes ethanol extract (HLEE). The HLEE was chromatographically fingerprinted to validate its affinin contents. Biological evaluation was conducted in sets of 6–8 CD1 + mice. Antinociceptive effect was evaluated using the writhing and hot-plate tests, and mutagenic and cytotoxic effects were evaluated with micronucleous test in CD1 + mice. For histopathological studies, biological samples from liver, heart, kidneys, spleen, lung, and brain were collected and stained. Oral administration of HLEE (3–100 mg/kg) produced a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect in both assays. In micronucleus assay, the variability in the number of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPE) induced, and PE/NE index, the ratio of polychromatic erythrocytes with respect to the number of normochromatic erythrocytes induced by HLEE in the evaluated schedule, were small and nonsignificant. After histopathological results, HLEE showed polioencephalomalacia with 1000 mg/kg dose. This work provides evidence that HLEE exerts analgesic effects, with no genotoxic effects in vivo. These findings would be an important contribution to explain the use of H. longipes root as an effective analgesic in traditional medicine, and to establish for the first time the absence of genotoxic and cytotoxic effects of the root in bioactive doses in vivo.