Mutagenicity of Chinese Herbal Anti-cancer Drugs and Their Antimutagenic Activity to Base-pair Substitution Mutagen

치암중초약의 돌연변이유발 및 돌연변이유발 억제효과

Ten species of herbae, which have been used to treat cancers in Chinese medicine, were tested to investigate their mutagenicity or antimutagenicity in S. typhimurium TA97, TA98, TA100, TA1535, and TA1538. Scolopendra centipede was weakly active in reversion of the frameshift mutation in S. typhimurium TA97 strain and the base-pair substitution in TA100 and TA1535 strains. Other herbae such as Coix lachryma, Dianthus superbus, Tricanthoshse kirilowii, Eupatorium formosanum, Lithospermum erythrorhizon, Ansaema japonicum, Curcuma zedoaria, Helicteres angustifolia, and Euonymus sieboldianus did not show any of the mutagenic potential, regardless of the metabolic activation with rat hepatic microsomal fraction. Dianthus superbus, Eupatorium formosanum, and Euonymus sieboldianus exhibited suppressive activities on microbial mutagenesis of N-methyl-N'-nitrosoguanidine, a base-pair substitution mutagen, in TA1535 and TA100 tester strains. The antimutagenic activities of Dianthus superbus and Euonymus sieboldianus appeared to be dose-dependant.