Investigation on the toxic potential of Tribulus terrestris in vitro

Figures & data

Table 1. Cytotoxic activity of the T. terrestris L. extracts on NRK-52E cell.

Extraction	Concentration (µg/mL)	Cell viability (%)	IC50 (µg/mL)
Water	62.5	100.0	NC^a
	125	100.0
	250	100.0
	500	91.9
Methanol	62.5	68.5		160
	125	62.6
	250	28.0
	500	8.2
Chloroform	62.5	84.1	NC^a
	125	78.5
	250	69.8
	500	70.6

^aNC, no cytotoxic activity.

Table 2. DNA migration in the Comet assay for the assessment of genotoxicity of T. terrestris L. extracts to NRK-52 cell.

Extraction	Concentration (µg/mL)	Mean tail intensity (tDNA%) ± SE	p Values*
Medium control		1.01 ± 0.17
DMSO control		1.26 ± 0.51
Positive control (25 µM H2O2)		62.24 ± 0.51
Water	3	0.89 ± 0.12	0.12
	6	1.04 ± 0.08	0.45
	30	1.24 ± 0.10	0.98
	60	0.91 ± 0.46	0.80
	120	1.08 ± 0.01	1.00
	240	1.76 ± 0.20	0.20
Methanol	3	1.24 ± 0.14	0.86
	6	2.24 ± 0.25	0.90
	30	5.77 ± 1.79	0.67
	60	5.86 ± 1.30	0.66
	120	3.63 ± 1.74	0.95
	240	11.43 ± 1.19	0.93
Chloroform	3	1.08 ± 0.13	1.00
	6	1.16 ± 0.23	1.00
	30	1.97 ± 0.64	1.00
	60	2.49 ± 0.46	0.94
	120	1.40 ± 0.49	1.00
	240	3.85 ± 0.63	0.54

*p > 0.05.

Table 3. Mutagenic potential of T. terrestris L. extracts with Ames assay in S. typhimurium TA100 and TA98 strains.

		Revertants fold increase (over baseline)^a
	Concentration	TA98		TA100
Extraction	(µg/mL)	S9−	S9+	S9−	S9+
DMSO controls		1.02	1.65	1.09	1.34
Positive controls^b		9.67	12.20	12.34	15.36
Water	30	1.19	0.68	1.27	1.78
	60	1.26	0.68	1.70	1.89
	300	1.63	1.13	1.70	2.11^c
	600	1.02	0.91	1.76	3.22^c
	1200	1.04	0.85	1.97	2.44^c
	2400	1.67	1.08	2.15	2.56^c
Methanol	30	1.00	1.88	1.63	1.56
	60	1.17	1.06	1.50	1.50
	300	0.58	1.34	1.20	1.72
	600	0.58	1.44	1.80	0.83
	1200	1.17	0.90	1.34	1.28
	2400	1.25	1.47	1.94	1.33
Chloroform	30	0.77	0.70	1.64	1.06
	60	1.34	1.05	1.76	1.66
	300	1.61	0.87	1.43	1.29
	600	1.07	1.40	1.03	1.34
	1200	1.40	1.22	1.11	1.72
	2400	1.58	1.40	1.48	1.97

^aThe values were mean.

^bPositive controls were 2-nitrofluorene (2 µg/mL) and 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide (0.1 µg/mL) in the absence metabolic activation and 2-aminoanthracene (5 µg/mL) in the presence metabolic activation.

^cThe results were statistically significantly mutagenic (p < 0.05) as indicated in evaluation of Ames assay.

Figure 1. Activity of T. terrestris L. extracts in the recombinant estrogen and androgen agonist screens. The results are shown in two panels; “a” and “b” for YES and YAS assays, respectively.

Figure 2. Activity of T. terrestris L. extracts in the recombinant anti-estrogen and anti-androgen agonist screens. The results were shown in two panels; “a” and “b” for YES and YAS assays, respectively.