Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil. (Solanaceae) are commonly used in traditional medicine for the treatment
of diabetes and obesity, as well as for controlling cholesterol levels. Solasonine
and solamargine are two major glycoalkaloids found in at least 100 Solanum species. In this sense, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the cytotoxic,
genotoxic and antigenotoxic potential of S. lycocarpum fruits glycoalkaloid extract (SL), solamargine (SM) and solasonine (SS), in V79 cells.
Cytotoxicity was evaluated by the colony forming assay. Genotoxic and antigenotoxic
potential were evaluated by comet assay. Different concentrations of SL (4, 8, 16
and 32 µg/mL), SM (7.1µg/mL) and SS (14.4 µg/mL) were used for the evaluation of their
genotoxic potential in V79 cells. In the antigenotoxicity assay, the different concentrations
of SL, SM and SS were combined with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). SL, SM and SS were
cytotoxic at concentrations up to 32µg/mL, 7.1µg/mL and 14.4 µg/mL, respectively.
The comet assay revealed that SL, SM and SS displayed no genotoxic activity, but they
significantly reduced the extent of DNA damage induced by MMS.
Financial support: Foundation for Research Support of São Paulo State (FAPESP, grants
number 2009/15871–1 and 2011/05732–4).
