Genotoxicity and Carcinogenicity of Alkaloids of Rhazya Stricta

In Asian countries, R. stricta has traditionally been used as herbal remedy for treating various animal and human diseases. Recent studies focused on identifying and characterizing specific "active pharmaceutical ingredients" from R. stricta and other Saudi Arabian medicinal plants. Metabolic syndrome (MetS; also called Syndrome X or insulin-resistance syndrome), combinations of metabolic disorders, increases vulnerability to the development of cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of various alkaloid extracts of R. stricta leaves (a whole aqueous extract, and an alkaloid-containing fraction and a non-alkaloid-containing fraction of this extract) on biochemical parameters associated with metabolic syndrome in animals.The genotoxicity and carcinogenicity for the alkaloid fraction isolated from the aqueous extract of Rhazya stricta was done molecularly by RAPD and Comet and cytogenetically by micronucleus test. Moreover, alkaloids fractions should be identified and tested separately to determine the component of alkaloids presented in the water extract which are responsible for its mutagenic effect.