Genotoxic potential of Cotinus coggygria Scop. (Anacardiaceae) stem extract in vivo

The intention was to evaluate the possible in vivo genotoxic potential in different cell-types, of a methanol extract obtained from the plant stem of Cotinus coggygria Scop., using the sex-linked recessive lethal (or SLRL) test and alkaline comet assay. The SLRL test, revealed the genotoxic effect of this extract in postmeiotic and premeiotic germ-cell lines. The comet assay was carried out on rat liver and bone marrow at 24 and 72 h after intraperitoneal administration. For genotoxic evaluation, three concentrations of the extract were tested, viz., 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg body weight (bw), based on the solubility limit of the extract in saline. Comet tail moment and total scores in the group treated with 500 mg/kg bw, 24 and 72 h after treatment, were not significantly different from the control group, whereas in the groups of animals, under the same conditions, but with 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw of the extract, scores were statistically so. A slight decrease in the comet score and tail moment observed in all the doses in the 72 h treatment, gave to understand that DNA damage induced by Cotinus coggygria extract decreased with time. The results of both tests revealed the genotoxic effect of Cotinus coggygria under our experimental conditions

Antimicrobial activity of Copaifera langsdorffii oil and evaluation of its most bioactive fraction against bacteria of dog’s dental plaque

The aim of this study was to evaluate the inhibitory effect of copaiba oil and its resinous and volatile fractions against 20 bacterial isolates from dental plaque of dogs. The antimicrobial activities of the oil and its fractions were evaluated by the agar diffusion test with solutions at 10% concentration. The results showed antimicrobial activity for the copaiba oil solution on 16 isolates. The volatile fraction was considered statistically similar (P>0.05) to copaiba oil intact on the size of inhibition zones inhibiting 17 isolates. The resinous fraction inhibited only eight isolates, with smaller haloes when compared with those of the volatile fraction and intact oil (P<0.05). It is concluded from these results that copaiba oil is a potential phytotherapic to be used in dental plaque antimicrobial therapy of dogs and suggests that its activity is due to sesquiterpenes of the volatile fraction