Investigação do potencial mutagênico do extrato de frutos de Vaccinium corymbosum (mirtilo) em células do sangue periférico de camundongos Swiss in vivo

Abstract

Blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum is a vegetable very rich in anthocyanins which have strong antioxidant capacity and other potential health benefits and because of that is widely consumed in the world as medicinal plant In this work the mutagenic potential of the crude extract from this plant was studied in mice after acute treatment using the comet and micronucleus assay Animals were treated orally with three different concentrations of the extract (1000 1500 and 2000 mg/kg) Peripheral blood cells of Swiss mice were collected 4 and 24 hours after the treatment for the comet assay and 48 and 72 hours for the micronucleus test The results have shown that the extract of Vaccinium corymbosum did not induce statistically significant increases in the average number of damages to desoxyribonucleic acid in peripheral blood cells However a significant increase in the mean of the micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes was observed at three tested doses It is suggested that its consumption could be moderate until a definitive risk for humans is established