Evaluation of Some Hematological and Cytogenetic Effects of Ammi majus Seed Aqueous Extract in Albino Male Mice

The present study was carried out with the aim to evaluate the hematological and cytogenetic effects of seed aqueous extract of the plant Ammi majus (0.5, 1.0, 1.5) mg/kg in albino male mice. The investigated parameters were total count of leucocytes (TLC), mitotic index (MI), micronucleus (MN) formation and chromosomal aberrations. The mitomycin C (MMC) was used as a mutagen in the interaction with the plant extract (pre- and post-treatment), with the aim to determine the antimutagenic efficiency of the plant extracts, and in all cases, the materials were given orally. In the first treatment, the results indicated that the dose 1.5 mg/kg of the extract enhanced the parameters investigated and a significant increase was observed in TLC (10070 cells/cu.mm.blood) as compared to negative (7290 cells/cu.mm.blood) or positive (4910 cells/cu.mm.blood) controls, and such observation was positively correlated with the mitotic index. In contrast, the spontaneous formation of MN was significantly decreased in the three investigated doses of the extract. In pre- and post-treatment experiments, a similar picture was drawn, and the plant extract was able to modulate the mutagenic effects of MMC.