Mutagenicity of comfrey (Symphytum Officinale) in rat liver
Open Access
- 22 February 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Nature in British Journal of Cancer
- Vol. 92 (5) , 873-875
- https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6602420
Abstract
Comfrey is a rat liver toxin and carcinogen that has been used as a vegetable and herbal remedy by humans. In order to evaluate the mechanisms underlying its carcinogenicity, we examined the mutagenicity of comfrey in the transgenic Big Blue rat model. Our results indicate that comfrey is mutagenic in rat liver and the types of mutations induced by comfrey suggest that its tumorigenicity results from the genotoxicity of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the plant.Keywords
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