Assessment of mutagenic and genotoxic activity of Caesalpinia sappan L. extract by Ames test and micronucleus assay

Abstract

The mutagenic activity of the water extract of sappan heartwood (Caesalpinia sappan L.) was evaluated by Ames test. A plate incorporation method with and without the rat liver mixture (S9 mix) using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 as indicator strains was applied in the present study. This plant extract exhibited an antibacterial potential at the concentration above 2.0 mg/plate either with or without S9 mix. However, it showed no mutagenic activity at the concentration between 0.25 and 2.5 mg/plate. The genotoxicity of the extract from sappan heartwood was further assayed by a cytokinesis – block micronucleus test using Chinese Hamster lung fibroblast (V79 cell line). It was found that the extract showed the cytotoxic effect to V 79 cell line at 400 and 200 µg/ml in the presence and absence of S9 mix, respectively, but was revealed to have no toxic effect to DNA observed at the concentration between 5 and 200 µg/ml.