Chromosomal aberrations and nucleic acids systems affected by some Egyptian medicinal plants used in treating female pregnant diabetic rats

Abstract

The influences of medicinal plants Juniperus Phoenicea (Araar), Hyphaene thebaica (Doum), An-astatica hierochuntica (Kafta) and Cleome droserifolia (Sammo) as antidiabetic agents were investigated using female pregnant albino rats. Female rats were injected with 60 mg/kg b.w. alloxan to induce diabe-tes. Diabetic rats treated orally with the methanol extracts of tested plants till the 19 day of gestation. The present studies include the frequencies of chro-mosomal aberrations and nucleic acid system of liver in the female pregnant rats and their embryos. The results showed that injection of alloxan caused highly significant increase in chromosomal aberrations as well as in blood glucose levels as a result of diabetes in pregnant females. It also caused a high incidence of chromosomal deviation in embryos and decreased the liver soluble protein contents of female rats and their embryos. These effects in alloxanized animals were treated and improved by ingestion of the methanol extracts of the tested plants (Araar, Doum, Kafta and Somma) in which under their treatments, the inceased level of blood glu-cose of diabetic rats was deceased. Ingestion with the plants methanolic extracts improved and normalized the effects of diabetes in nucleic acids values of liver tissues. These were accompanied with nucleases (RNAase and DNAase) activities. The inhibited ac-tivities of both DNA ase and RNA ase of pregnant rats and their embryos were stimulated and read-justed around the normal values. Also administration of the plants methanol extracts decreased the per-centage of chromosomal aberrations in the female rats and embryos. It is concluded that there are some biochemical dynamics which might occur in the metabo-lism of glucose, nucleic acids and proteins in order to prevent or to reduce the oxidative stress of diabetes by flavonoides treatment.