Comparative efficacy of two microdoses of a potentized homoeopathic drug, Cadmium Sulphoricum, in reducing genotoxic effects produced by cadmium chloride in mice: a time course study

BACKGROUND: Cadmium poisoning in the environment has assumed an alarming problem in recent years. Effective antimutagenic agents which can reverse or combat cadmium induced genotoxicity in mice have not yet been reported. Therefore, in the present study, following the homeopathic principle of "like cures like", we tested the efficacy of two potencies of a homeopathic drug, Cadmium Sulphoricum (Cad Sulph), in reducing the genotoxic effects of Cadmium chloride in mice. Another objective was to determine the relative efficacy of three administrative modes, i.e. pre-, post- and combined pre and post-feeding of the homeopathic drugs. For this, healthy mice, Mus musculus, were intraperitoneally injected with 0.008% solution of CdCl(2) @ 1 ml/100 gm of body wt (i.e. 0.8 mcg/gm of bw), and assessed for the genotoxic effects through such studies as chromosome aberrations (CA), micronucleated erythrocytes (MNE), mitotic index (MI) and sperm head anomaly (SHA), keeping suitable succussed alcohol fed (positive) and CdCl(2) untreated normal (negative) controls. The CdCl(2) treated mice were divided into 3 subgroups, which were orally administered with the drug prior to, after and both prior to and after injection of CdCl(2) at specific fixation intervals and their genotoxic effects were analyzed. RESULTS: While the CA, MNE and SHA were reduced in the drug fed series as compared to their respective controls, the MI showed an apparent increase. The combined pre- and post-feeding of Cad Sulph showed maximum reduction of the genotoxic effects. CONCLUSIONS: Both Cad Sulph-30 and 200 were able to combat cadmium induced genotoxic effects in mice and that combined pre- and post-feeding mode of administration was found to be most effective in reducing the genotoxic effect of CdCl(2) followed by the post-feeding mode

Non-Linear Effects In The Formation Of DNA Damage In Medaka Fish Fibroblast Cells Caused by Combined Action of Cadmium And Ionizing Radiation

Ionizing radiation-induced formation of genomic DNA damage can be modulated by nearby chemical species such as heavy metal ions, which can lead to non-linear dose response. To investigate this phenomenon, we studied cell survival and formation of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) base modifications and double strand breaks (DSB) caused by combined action of cadmium (Cd) and gamma radiation in cultured medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) fibroblast cells. Our data show that the introduction of Cd leads to a significant decrease in the fraction of surviving cells and to increased sensitivity of cells to ionizing radiation (IR). Cd also appears to cause non-linear increases in radiation-induced yields of 8-OHG and DSB as dose-yield plots of these lesions exhibit non-linear S-shaped curves with a sharp increase in the yields of lesions in the 10–20 μM range of Cd concentrations. The combined action of ionizing radiation and Cd leads to increased DNA damage formation compared to the effects of the individual stressors. These results are consistent with a hypothesis that the presence of Cd modulates the efficiency of DNA repair systems thus causing increases in radiation-induced DNA damage formation and decreases in cell survival