Evaluation of salidroside in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity

Abstract

It is reported that salidroside, the main component of a traditional Chinese medicine, Rhodiola rosea, has the efficacy of protecting Coxsackie virus impairment. As part of a safety evaluation on salidroside for use in the treatment of viral myocarditis, the present study evaluated potential genotoxicity of salidroside by using the standard battery of tests (i.e., bacterial reverse mutation assay, chromosomal aberrations assay, and mouse micronucleus assay) recommended by the State Food and Drug Administration of China. The results showed that salidroside was not genotoxic under the conditions of the reverse mutation assay, chromosomal aberrations assay, and mouse micronucleus assay conditions. The anticipated clinical dose seems to be smaller than the doses administered in the genotoxicity assays. With confirmation from further toxicity studies, salidroside would hopefully prove to be a safe anti-Coxsackie virus agent.

Keywords::

• Salidroside
• reverse mutation assay
• chromosomal aberration assay
• mouse micronucleus assay
• genotoxicity

Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Nature Science Fund of Shanghai, China (09ZR1439700) and Key Subjects of Heath Toxicology in Shanghai (08GWZX0301). JZ and XW contributed equally to this work.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.