Author(s): Dias, S.D.F. ; Andrade, L.P. ; Rolo, Joana ; Delgado, F.M.G. ; Oliveira, Ana Cristina Palmeira de
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/8397
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
Subject(s): Animal biotechnology; Plant hydrolates; Reproductive toxicology; Sperm
Medicinal plants have been used since the earliest documented history around the world, as an available and inexpensive therapeutic resource. Plant based bioactive elements play eminent biological roles as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative agents. It is proved that naturally occurring antioxidants in ethnomedicinal plants are effective in treating various types of diseases. However, herbal medicine, without any knowledge of their toxicological profile, target organ, and safe dose, is one of the biggest problems of recent health care systems. Any drug or herbal formula which is intended to be used in humans must first be tested in suitable experimental in vitro or animal models in order to evaluate its safety. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the toxicity of plant extracts to enhance their value for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Six extracts of plants produced/endogenous in Portugal: Cistus ladanifer, Thymbra capitata, Helichrysum italicum, Cupressus lusitanica, Ocimum basilicum and Matricaria chamomilla were used in order to assess their reproductive toxicity by evaluating the viability of sperm when in contact with the extracts. Hydrolates for each plant were obtained by hydrodistillation of aerial parts. The chemical composition of the hydrolates was determined by GC-MS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry). Reproductive toxicity was assessed by exposing cryopreserved bovine semen to six different concentrations of each hydrolate (0.2%-0.002% v/v). Methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) was used (0.22nM) as positive control of sperm toxicity. After incubation, sperm viability was determined for each concentration by staining with eosinnigrosin and counting the number of viable and dead spermatozoa (spz) in a total of 200 spz. The results show that the hydrolates in test do not compromise sperm viability for all tested concentrations (>25%) when compared with negative control (34%) and in fact, M. chamomilla seems to promote sperm viability (39%) at the highest tested concentration. These results indicate that the extracts at the concentrations used do not seem to have a toxic effect on this evaluated target.
