Toxicology of Lapachol in rats: embryolethality

Abstract

Lapachol is a naphtoquinone with therapeutic potential against enterovirus, Chagas disease and is also used as an antimalarial and antiinflamatory agent. In order to study teratogenic potential of Lapachol, pregnant Wistar rats were treated with 0.5 ml of distilled water (control group); 0.5 ml of hydroalcoholic solution (vehicle group) and 10 mg of Lapachol in 0.5 ml of hydroalcoholic solution (treated group) by oral gavage from the 8 th to the 12 th day of pregnancy. The following variables were observed: maternal body weight on days 1, 6, l5 and 21 and food intake on days 2, 6, 15 and 21 of pregnancy. The number of live and dead fetuses and the sites of resorptions were counted. The ovaries were weighed and the corpora lutea were counted. Data were analyzed by ANOVA-one way, Dunnett test and the chi square test. Significance level test α = 0.05. Results have shown that mothers were unaffected but there were a 99.2% of fetus mortality, indicative of a strong abortifacient effect of Lapachol in rats.Key words: Lapachol, embryotoxicity, rat. RESUMO Toxicologia do Lapachol em ratas: embrioletalidadeO Lapachol é uma naftoquinona com potencial terapêutico contra enterovírus, doença de Chagas e como antimalárico. Para estudar o potencial embriotóxico do Lapachol, ratas originalmente Wistar, grávidas, foram tratadas com 0,5 ml de água destilada (grupo controle); 0,5 ml de solução hidroalcoólica (grupo veículo) e 10 mg de Lapachol em 0,5 ml de solução hidroalcoólica (grupo tratado) por gavage, do 8 o ao 12 o dia de gestação. As seguintes variáveis foram observadas: peso corporal materno nos dias 1, 6, 15 e 21, consumo de ração nos dias 2, 6, 15 e 21 de gestação. O número de fetos vivos e mortos e os locais de reabsorção foram contados. Os ovários foram pesados e os corpos lúteos, contados. Os dados foram analisados por ANOVA "one way", teste de Dunnet e Qui-quadrado. O nível de significância dos testes foi α = 0,05. Os resultados mostram que as mães não foram afetadas, mas ocorreram 99,2% de mortes fetais, o que indica um potente efeito embriotóxico do Lapachol para o rato.Palavras-chave: Lapachol, embriotoxicidade, rato.

Embryotoxic and Teratogenic Potentials of Salacia lehmbachii in Rats

“…Maternal homeostasis contributes significantly to fetal development and is assessed using some maternal parameters (body weight changes, food and water intake) and clinical signs of toxicity (salivation, diarrhea, behavioural changes and vaginal bleeding) during pregnancy [35,39,40]. Usually, increase in maternal body weight accompanies pregnancy, so the observation of such increase in the dams in this study was an indication that they were actually pregnant.…”

“…Since literature search shows no previous work on the effect of Salacia lehmbachii on pregnancy and fetal development, there are no results on the plant to compare with findings of this work. However, effects of Salacia reticulata, a specie in the genus, Salacia and some other herbs on pregnancy and fetal development have been evaluated [35,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”

Structure Antimutagenicity Relationship of Anthraquinones

“…Several benzo-and naphthoquinones have also been shown to be oxidative mutagens [100]. More recently, Guerra et al [101] have investigated the teratogenic potential of lapachol, a naphthoquinone with therapeutic potential. Results have shown a strong abortifacient effect of lapachol in rats.…”

Study of the antineoplastic action of Tabebuia avellanedae in carcinogenesis induced by azoxymethane in mice

“…There was need to hold two control groups of β-lapachone vehicle, since the diluent is alcohol (ethanol 20%) 2 , from which group III, treated only with vehicle, showed no histopathological changes, as seen in literature 17 . Group IV showed similar changes to group I due to the use of tumor promoter (AOM).…”

“…In the '60s and '70s, there was significant investment in studies of substances extracted from this plant, especially lapachol and β-lapachone, which started to be commercialized for use in adjuvant chemotherapy for treatment of leukemia 1,2 . Lapachol is an important naphthoquinone obtained from the bark of Tabebuia avellanedae, and its derivative, a quinone β-lapachone, exists mainly in this type of ipe.…”