Toxicity evaluation of water extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma on Caenorhabditis elegans / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the toxic effects of different concentrations of Coptidis Rhizoma extract on Caenorhabditis elegans. Methods Coptidis Rhizoma was extracted by water, and then selected some indicators to evaluate the toxic effects of Coptidis Rhizoma by using C. elegans as model organism. The effects of different concentrations of water extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma on lethality, maximum lifespan and median lethal time, individual development, spawning number and locomotion behavior were measured to evaluate the toxic effects on C. elegans. Results Compared with the control group, the lethality of C. elegans was significantly increased by water extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.5 mg/mL (P < 0.01), and maximum lifespan and median lethal time were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). In the aspect of individual development, Coptidis Rhizoma extract at 1.0 and 2.5 mg/mL significantly inhibited the growth of C. elegans (P < 0.01). Three concentration extracts could significantly reduce the number of spawning in a certain dose-dependent manner in the aspect of reproductive behavior (P < 0.001), and the head swing frequency of C. elegans (P < 0.01) in the aspect of locomotion behavior, respectively. There was no significant difference in body bending frequency between the 0.5 and 1.0 mg/mL exposed group, of which the lowest bending frequency was 2.5 mg/mL exposed group (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the frequency of forward swing, backward swing and Omega/U swing of three exposed groups. Conclusion The water extracts of Coptidis Rhizoma had obvious toxic effects on C. elegans, which provided the basis for the biological evaluation of the toxicity of different processed products of Coptidis Rhizoma by using C. elegans as a model organism, and provided new ideas and methods for the biological assessment of toxicity of Chinese medicinal materials.