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Radiopharmaceuticals are employed in patient diagnostics and disease treatments. Concerning the diagnosis aspect, technetium-99m (99mTc) is utilized to label radiopharmaceuticals for single photon computed emission tomography (SPECT) due to its physical and chemical characteristics. 99mTc fixation on pharmaceuticals depends on a reducing agent, stannous chloride (SnCl(2)) being the most widely-utilized. The genotoxic, clastogenic and anegenic properties of the 99mTc-MDP(methylene diphosphonate used for bone SPECT) and SnCl(2) were evaluated in Wistar rat blood cells using the Comet assay and micronucleus test. The experimental approach was to endovenously administer NaCl 0.9% (negative control), cyclophosphamide 50 mg/kg b.w. (positive control), SnCl(2) 500 μg/mL or 99mTc-MDP to animals and blood samples taken immediately before the injection, 3, and 24 h after (in the Comet assay) and 36 h after, for micronucleus test. The data showed that both SnCl(2) and 99mTc-MDP-induced deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strand breaks in rat total blood cells, suggesting genotoxic potential. The 99mTc-MDP was not able to induce a significant DNA strand breaks increase in in vivo assays. Taken together, the data presented here points to the formation of a complex between SnCl(2) in the radiopharmaceutical 99mTc-MDP, responsible for the decrease in cell damage, compared to both isolated chemical agents. These findings are important for the practice of nuclear medicine.

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Davilla nitida and Davilla elliptica (Dilleniaceae) are plants that occur predominantly in the cerrado region of South America. They are used in popular medicine to treat stomach diseases, diarrhea and swelling, particularly of the lymph nodes and testicles. Chemical investigation of these two plant species led to the identification of the compounds myricetin-3-O-α-l-rhamnoside (myricitrin), quercetin-3-O-α-l-rhamnoside (quercitrin), myricetin, quercetin and gallic acid derivatives in the leaves of D. nitida and D. elliptica. Therefore, it was concluded that the two species of Davilla possess qualitatively similar chemical profiles. In the present study, the mutagenic and genotoxic potential of these plants and of their isolated compounds was tested in the Salmonella typhimurium assay (Ames test) with strains TA100, TA98, TA102 and TA97a, in the micronucleus test with peripheral blood cells of mice treated in vivo, and in plasmid DNA to analyze DNA strand-breaks. In the assessment of mutagenic potential by the Ames test, extracts from both plant species and a D. nitida ethyl-acetate fraction induced positive responses. On the other hand, none of the extracts showed genotoxic activity in the mouse cells. In the presence of metal ion, D. nitida and D. elliptica aqueous and ethyl-acetate fractions, as well as their isolated compounds, induced single- and double-strand-breaks in plasmid DNA in a cell-free system.

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Papain, a phytotherapeutic agent, has been used in the treatment of eschars and as a debriding chemical agent to remove damaged or necrotic tissue of pressure ulcers and gangrene. Its benefits in these treatments are deemed effective, since more than 5000 patients, at the public university hospital at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have undergone papain treatment and presented satisfactory results. Despite its extensive use, there is little information about toxic and mutagenic properties of papain. This work evaluated the toxic and mutagenic potential of papain and its potential antioxidant activity against induced-H(2)O(2) oxidative stress in Escherichia coli strains. Cytotoxicity assay, Growth inhibition test, WP2-Mutoxitest and Plasmid-DNA treatment, and agarose gel electrophoresis were used to investigate if papain would present any toxic or mutagenic potential as well as if papain would display antioxidant properties. Papain exhibited negative results for all tests. This agent presented an activity protecting cells against H(2)O(2)-induced mutagenesis.

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Stannous chloride (SnCl(2)) and UVA induce DNA lesions through ROS. The aim of this work was to study the toxicity induced by UVA preillumination, followed by SnCl(2) treatment. E. coli BER mutants were used to identify genes which could play a role in DNA lesion repair generated by these agents. The survival assays showed (i) The nfo mutant was the most sensitive to SnCl(2); (ii) lethal synergistic effect was observed after UVA pre-illumination, plus SnCl(2) incubation, the nfo mutant being the most sensitive; (iii) wild type and nfo mutants, transformed with pBW21 plasmid (nfo(+)) had their survival increased following treatments. The alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis assays pointed that (i) UVA induced DNA breaks and fpg mutant was the most sensitive; (ii) SnCl(2)-induced DNA strand breaks were higher than those from UVA and nfo mutant had the slowest repair kinetics; (iii) UVA + SnCl(2) promoted an increase in DNA breaks than SnCl(2) and, again, nfo mutant displayed the slowest repair kinetics. In summary, Nfo protects E. coli cells against damage induced by SnCl(2) and UVA + SnCl(2).

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The concentration of free circulating plasma DNA and the genetic profile of patients suffering from various types of tumors were studied in an effort to increase the understanding of the biomarkers and genetic factors involved in predisposing an individual to lung cancer (LC). The polymorphic inheritance of glutathione S-transferases (GST), which modulate the effects of various genotoxic agents, especially those derived from benzo[a]pyrene, one of the main tobacco carcinogens, has been implicated in both cancer risk and prognostics. We investigated gene polymorphisms in the blood serum of patients previously diagnosed at the Pneumology Division of the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and in buccal swab samples of exfoliated oral cells obtained from a population of healthy controls. The distribution of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms was not significantly different between LC patients and the controls, suggesting that GSTM1 and GSTT1 alone or in combination are not independent risk factors for LC. However, a close relationship between smoking status and LC was clearly demonstrated. The most significant risk for LC concerning tobacco smoking was found in the association of null genotypes for GSTM1 and GSTT1 (P < 0.0001).

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At present, more than 75% of routine nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures use technetium-99m (99mTc). The binding between 99mTc and the drug to obtain the radiopharmaceutical needs a reducing agent, with stannous chloride (SnCl2) being one of the most used. There are controversies about the cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic effects of SnCl2 in the literature. Thus, the approaches below were used to better understand the biological effects of this salt and its association in nuclear medicine kits [methylenediphosphonate (MDP) bone scintigraphy and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) kidney and brain scintigraphy]: (i) bacterial inactivation experiments; (ii) agarose gel electrophoresis of supercoiled and linear plasmid DNA and (iii) bacterial transformation assay. The Escherichia coli strains used here were AB1157 (wild type) and BW9091 (xthA mutant). Data obtained showed that both MDP and SnCl2 presented a high toxicity, but this was not observed when they were assayed together in the kit, thereby displaying a mutual protect effect. DTPA salt showed a moderate toxicity, and once more, the DTPA kit provided protection, compared to the SnCl2 effect alone. The results suggest a possible complex formation, either MDP-SnCl2 or DTPA-SnCl2, originating an atoxic compound. On the other hand, SnCl2-induced cell inactivation and the decrease in bacterial transformation generated by DTPA found in XthA mutant strain suggest that the lack of this enzyme could be responsible for the effects observed, being necessary to induce DNA damage repair.

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Methanolic extracts obtained from different organs of Cleome rosea, collected from its natural habitat and from in vitro-propagated plants, were submitted to in vitro biological assays. Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production by J774 macrophages and antioxidant effects by protecting the plasmid DNA from the SnCl(2)-induced damage were evaluated. Extracts from the stem of both origins and leaf of natural plants inhibited NO production. The plasmid DNA strand breaks induced by SnCl(2) were reduced by extracts from either leaf or stem of both sources. On the other hand, root extracts did not show any kind of effects on plasmid DNA, and presented significant toxic effects to J774 cells. The results showed that C. rosea presents medicinal potential and that the acclimatization process reduces the plant toxicity both to plasmid DNA and to J774 cells, suggesting the use of biotechnology tools to obtain elite plants as source of botanical material for pharmacological and phytochemical studies.

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Stannous chloride (SnCl2) is a reducing chemical agent used in several man-made products. SnCl2 can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS); therefore, studies have been carried out in order to better understand its damaging action in biological systems. In this work, calf thymus DNA, triphosphate nucleotides and isolated bases were incubated with SnCl2 and the results were analyzed through UV spectrophotometry. The presence of stannous ions altered the absorption spectra of all three isolates. The amount of stannous ions associated to DNA was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Data showed that more than 40% of the initial SnCl2 concentration was present in the samples. Our results are in accordance with the damaging potential of this salt and present evidence that stannous ions can complex with DNA, inducing ROS in its vicinity, which may be responsible for the observed lesions.

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Aloe vera is a tropical plant, known in Brazil as babosa and several reputable suppliers produce a stabilized aloe gel for topic use. Since people use Aloe vera topically, they could be exposed to solar ultraviolet light in addition and it might cause a cross damage effect between these agents. The aim of this work was to investigate the biological effects of Aloe vera pulp extract, associated or not to UVA radiation, on Escherichia coli-deficient repair mutants and plasmid DNA, in order to test its genotoxic potential. Data obtained from analysis of survival fractions, bacterial transformation and agarose gel electrophoresis suggest that Aloe vera has genotoxic properties, but it seems not to be able to damage the cell membrane.

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The use of natural products as medicines is growing in the world. The rutin, a compound isolated from Ruta graveolens, is a flavonoid, which has been suggested to have antioxidant properties and to reduce the triacylglycerol levels. In this study, plasmid desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was exposed to rutin (0.33, 10, 20, 30 microg/ml) in presence of stannous chloride (SnCl2), a reducing agent widely used to obtain radiopharmaceuticals labeled with technetium-99m. Samples of the plasmid DNA were analyzed through agarose gel electrophoresis. E. coli AB1157 culture was also incubated with rutin (3, 30, 50, 100 microg/ml) and the survival fractions were calculated. The results show that the rutin, in these concentrations, is not capable of: i/ damaging the DNA, ii/ protecting the DNA from the SnCl2 redox action, and iii/ inactivating the E. coli AB1157 culture. The analysis of our data indicates that rutin do not present toxic activity in the evaluated systems.

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"Home bleaching" methods are commonly used in dentistry to correct tooth discoloration. This technique employs carbamide peroxide, in several concentrations, where the active component is hydrogen peroxide. In patients undertaking this treatment, this exposure can cause biological effects mainly due to the activity of hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide is associated with effects induced by chemical (natural and synthetic substances) and physical agents (ionizing radiations). We have evaluated the cytotoxic effects of four commercial dental bleaching agents: Insta-Brite, Karisma, Opalescence and Whiteness. We have studied the effects of these agents on the survival of different E. coli strains with various capabilities to repair damages on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA): AB1157 (wild type), AB2463 (recA) and BW9091 (xthA). To determine the effect of the bleaching agents on the survival of E. coli AB1157, AB2463 and BW9091, cultures in exponential growth-phase were incubated with the bleaching agent or with 0.9% NaCl, as a control. After plating, the survival fractions were determined. The bleaching agents tested decreased the survival fractions of all strains studied and the E. coli BW9091 was the most sensitive and, moreover, these bleaching agents are capable of inducing damage to the DNA molecule. In conclusion, our results indicate that dental bleaching agents can generate biological effects like the ionizing radiations, and we suggest that dental professionals involved in bleaching to correct tooth discoloration, should control the clinical environment strictly, thus preventing contact between the oral mucosa/gingival tissues and the bleaching agents.

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