Acute, chronic, and genotoxic studies on the protopine total alkaloids of the Macleaya cordata (willd.) R. Br. in rodents.

The protopine alkaloids are widely distributed within the opium poppy family and have a wide range of pharmacological effects. MPTA is a product of the protopine total alkaloids extracted from the Macleaya cordata (Willd.) R. Br. Previously, we reported good anti-inflammatory activity of MPTA as well as oral acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies in rats. In order to perform a systematic toxicological safety assessment of MPTA, oral acute toxicity, genotoxicity (bone marrow cell chromosome aberration test, sperm abnormality test, bone marrow cell micronucleus test, and rat teratogenicity test), and chronic toxicity in mice were performed in this study. In the oral acute toxicity test, the LD50 in ICR mice was 481.99 mg/kg, with 95% confidence limits ranging from 404.27 to 574.70 mg/kg. All three mutagenicity tests tested negative in the range of 60.25-241.00 mg/kg. The results of the teratogenicity test in rats showed no reproductive or embryonic developmental toxicity at only 7.53 mg/kg, which can be considered as a no observed effect level (NOEL) for the teratogenicity test. Therefore, MPTA is safe for use at the doses tested, but attention should be paid to the potential risk to pregnant animals and the safety evaluation and toxicity mechanisms in target animals should be further investigated.

Preclinical safety evaluation of Macleaya Cordata extract: A re-assessment of general toxicity and genotoxicity properties in rodents.

Macleaya cordata extract (MCE) is widely used for its diverse pharmacological actions and beneficial effects on farm animals. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that it has anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-bacterial activities, and is gradually becoming a long-term additive veterinary drug used to improve animal intestinal health and growth performance. Although some evidence points to the DNA mutagenic potential of sanguinarine (SAN), a major component of MCE, there is a lack of sufficient basic toxicological information on the oral route, posing a potential safety risk for human consumption of food of animal origin. In this study, we assessed the acute oral toxicity, repeated 90-day oral toxicity and 180-day chronic toxicity of MCE in rats and mice and re-evaluated the genotoxicity of MCE using a standard combined in vivo and ex vivo assay. In the oral acute toxicity test, the LD50 for MCE in rats and mice was 1,564.55 mg/kg (95% confidence interval 1,386.97-1,764.95 mg/kg) and 1,024.33 mg/kg (95% confidence interval 964.27-1,087.30 mg/kg), respectively. The dose range tested had no significant effect on hematology, clinical chemistry, and histopathological findings in rodents in the long-term toxicity assessment. The results of the bacterial reverse mutation, sperm abnormality and micronucleus test showed negative results and lack of mutagenicity and teratogenicity; the results of the rat teratogenicity test showed no significant reproductive or embryotoxicity. The results indicate that MCE was safe in the dose range tested in this preclinical safety assessment. This study provides data to support the further development of maximum residue limits (MRLs) for MCE.

[The clinical and experimental analyses of a multiple myeloma patient with derivative der(Y;1)].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical significance of a rare chromosome abnormality der(Y)t(Y;1) in a patient with multiple myeloma (MM). METHODS: The chromosome spread was prepared after 24 h culture of bone marrow. G-banding technique was used to analyze the karyotype. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed to ascertain the origin of abnormal chromosome detected by conventional karyotypic analysis. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of the CD38/CD138/ZAP70. Immunoelectrophore was applied to identify the type of immunoglobulin. RESULTS: A complex pattern of chromosome rearrangement was observed: 92,XXYY[3]/49,X,der(Y)t(Y;1)(q12;q21),t(11;14)(q13;q32),+18,+20,+21[47]/49,X,idem,del(13q22),ace[1]/98,XX,der(Y)t(Y;1) x 2,+18,+18,+20,+20,+21,+21[10]/46,XY[19]. The result was confirmed by metaphase-FISH. The type of immunoglobulin was IgD with the level of 6.24g/L. The CD38/CD138 was positive but ZAP70 was negative. CONCLUSION: Structural abnormality of chromosome Y is rare in blood malignancy. Most of them were described in myelodysplastic syndrome or myeloproliferative disorders. It is the first report of der(Y)t(Y;1) abnormality in multiple myeloma.

[Analysis of variant translocation der ins (17; 15) in patient with APL by G-banding technique and interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization].

To investigate the biological characteristics of the variant translocation der ins (17;15) in a patient with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), the conventional G-banding technique, interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (int-FISH), RT-PCR, gene scanning, gene sequence and flow cytometry were performed. The results indicated that the variant translocation der ins (17, 15) observed by G banding technique was a rare type, the int-FISH assay by using dual-color pml/raralpha fusion probes confirmed the cytogenetic findings. The detection results of other molecular methods demonstrated the existence of the whole pml/raralpha fusion gene, while this case had insertion variant translocation. This patient got complete remission by using combined chemotherapy, and survives with continuous complete remission during following up for 1 year. In conclusion, the variant translocation der ins (17; 15) is rare type in APL, its incidence is lower, several signal types in detection of int-FISH were observed and the combination chemotherapy for this patient showed more obvious efficacy.