Medicinal Plants Classification Biosynthesis and ... - Index of

Pharmacologic Study of Some Plant Species from The Brazilian Northeast
DHM can modify DNA in different ways in vitro. It is possible that all of them may
contribute to DHM-mediated DNA damage in vivo. DNA lesions in major groove are
believed to be repaired by base excision repair, whereas minor groove lesions are repaired by
nucleotide excision repair (Pereira et al.1998). DNA lesions induced by polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons are repaired by both pathways, the contribution from each pathway depending
on the extent of damage to guanine (Bralthwalte et al., 1998).
7. Final Considerations
The results of these articles show that the plants presented here exert a diversity of
effects and have potential for use as new drugs.
The pharmacological characteristics of C. procera should be explored by pharmaceutical
industries for production of new antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antitumoral drugs.
A. sisalana, S. paludosum and D. cayenensis are largely studied, but more knowledge
must be acquired for a better use and, probably, discover of new therapies.
C. retusa is used in agriculture and MCT, its main toxic constituent, is used as
pulmonary hypertension model in laboratory and induces oxidative stress. MCT makes DNA-
DNA crosslinks that inhibits cell division. Many authors suggest a role of MCT in cancer
treatment. New information is necessary to augment the knowledge of its effect in humans
and its action mechanism and to discover new methods of detoxifying humans or animals that
were intoxicated.
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