Open Access

ARTICLE

Antiproliferative and genotoxic effects of Mikania glomerata (Asteraceae)

GRACIELI DALLA NORA¹, TAMARA PASTORI¹, HAYWOOD DAIL LAUGHINGHOUSE IV^2,3, THAIS SCOTTI DO CANTO-DOROW¹, SOLANGE BOSIO TEDESCO^1*

1. Department of Biology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
2. Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.
3. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.

*Address correspondence to: Solange Bosio TEDESCO. E-mail:

BIOCELL 2010, 34(3), 95-102. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2010.34.095

Abstract

Mikania glomerata is a plant used in Brazilian traditional medicine, known as ‘guaco’. It possesses anti-inflammatory properties and the aqueous extracts of its leaves are indicated for the treatment of diseases of the respiratory tract. This study aimed at evaluating the antiproliferative and genotoxic effect of Mikania glomerata leaf infusions on the cell cycle of onion. The material used was collected in the native environment from Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Aqueous extracts through infusions were prepared in two concentrations: 4g/L (usual concentration) and 16g/L (4x more concentrated) of each of the populations. Two groups of four onion bulbs for each plant population were used plus a control group. The rootlets were fixed in ethanol-acetic acid (3:1), conserved in ethanol 70% and slides were prepared using the squashing technique colored with orcein 2%. The cells were observed and analyzed during cell cycle. Per group of bulbs, 2000 cells were analyzed, and the mean values of the cell number of each of the phases of the cell cycle were calculated, determining the mitotic index (MI). Statistic analyses of the data were carried out by the x2 (p= 0.05) test. We conclude that M. glomerata presents both antiproliferative and genotoxic activity.

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