Cytological effects of medicinal plants in Qatar III. Mitotic effect of water extract of Anastatica hierochuntica L. on Allium cepa.

Abstract

The cytological, antifungal and antimicrobial effects of plant extracts, especially those having medicinal importance, attracted the attention of many investigators, Ohno (1960), noxious plants, Singh and Madhu (1978) studying the antifungal pro perties of 34 flowering plants and Shehab et al. (1978), reporting the cytological effects of water extracts of Achillea fragrantissima.This work represents part III in the survey concerning the cytological effects of medicinal plants growing in Qatar.The water extract of Anastatica hierochuntica L, a folkmedicinal weed is used as antispasmotic. Material and methodsThe concentrations used were 3, 5, 7 and 10% of the original solution prepared as in part I (Shehab 1979). Results and discussionFrom Table 1, it is clear that treatment of Allium cepa roots with the extract, resulted in a drop in the mitotic activity especially in short durations (1 h), in nearly all concentrations.The results showed that the effect of the extract in producing mitotic index decline was an irreversible one, and it is directly proportional to time of treatment, where recovery treatments induced the lowest mitotic indicies (26.2, 23.6 in 3 and 6 h, 5 and 7%). The effect on mitotic index may be ascribed either to blockage of DNA synthesis, or to inhibition of spindle formation.Studying the data of phase index (Table 1) it is obvious that, all treatments ex cept 10% direct treatment reduced prophase percentage, meanwhile the percentage of metaphases and ana-telophases rose over those of the control. The same effect was observed after recovery treatments. So it is now clear that the components of the extract may interfere with or lead to blockage of DNA synthesis rather than retardation of the spindle formation. Where mitotic index depression was not ac companied by lowering the metaphase and ana-telophase percentages.

Alterations in nucleic acids, protein content and mitotic division of Vicia faba root tip cells as affected by malathion and tamaron insecticides.

“…Also Shalaby et al (1986) reported the same trend where MI changes were not correlated with changes in DNA content in Vicia faba root tip cells treated with growth regulators under different salininty conditions. Changes in mitotic activity were recorded and discussed by some authors as Shehab andAdam (1981, 1983), Lazar and Keul (1983), Adam and Rashad (1984) and Amer et al (1987 Concerning the percentages of the different mitotic phases Table 3 shows that the general effect of malathion and tamaron in increasing the percentage of metaphase and ana-telaphase was accompanied by a rise in protein content of the treated root tips (Table 2). This may be explained on the basis that spindle formation required active protein synthesis to form the microtubules (spindle sub-units).…”

Kaff-E-Maryam (Anastatica hierochuntica L.): Evaluation of Gastro-Protective Activity and Toxicity in Different Experimental Models

“…In an earlier study, sulforaphne was confirmed to inhibit extracellular, intracellular and antibiotic resistant strains of Heliocobacter pylori and prevented against benzo[a]pyrene induced stomach tumors [65,70]. Many individual flavonoids such as quercetin, rutin, kaempferol, flavones glycoside, and hypolaetin 8-glucoside, and other A. hierchuntica chemical constituents, have been reported to possess gastric protective effects [69,[86][87][88][89][90]. Similarly, saponins were also reported to have antiulcer effects in rats [85].…”

“…On the other side, the results of the preliminary toxicity studies in Brine shrimp lethality test were found to be useful in initial assessment of chemicals and plant extracts for detailed toxicology and pharmacology investigations [19,34]. In an earlier experiment, A. hierochuntica extract treatment induced some mitotic index depression in Allium cepa meristems [11]. The cytotoxicity shown by A. hierochuntica ethanol extract in the present study successfully indicated the need for detailed investigations on the effects of acute and chronic treatment using different official experimental models [18,20,21].…”

“…It is believed to be a cure for arthritis inflammations, infections, diabetes, asthma, viral and autoimmune diseases. It is also used for pain relief after surgery [8,[11][12][13][14]. Its freshly prepared decoction is commonly used as local disinfectant, to ease childbirth, as liver tonic, to stop vomiting, to treat mouth ulcers, and provide cure against stomach cancer [15,16].…”

In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Antibacterial Evaluation of Aqueous, Methanolic and Ethanolic Extracts of Anastatica hierochuntica against Pathogenic Bacteria

“…1). A. hierochuntica L. (Family: Brassicaceae) is known as Kaff-e Maryam in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, where it is widely consumed as a tea beverage and to treatment of many conditions, such as difficult childbirth, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus and uterine hemorrhage (Khalifa and Ahmad, 1980;El-Ghazali et al, 2010;Jaradat, 2005;Sehab et al, 1983;Bellakhdar et al, 1991;Batanouny 1999;Eman et al, 2011;Daur 2012).…”