Protection against cytotoxic effects of arsenic by dietary supplementationwith crude extract of Emblica officinalis fruit

Dietary administration of a crude aqueous extract of Emblica officinalis Ga ertn, fruit reduced significantly the cytotoxic effects of sodium arsenite administered orally, The crude extract (685 mg/kg bw) was given daily by ga vaging to age and sex matched laboratory bread Swiss albino mice for 7 and 14 days, followed by a single dose of sodium arsenite (2.5 mg/kg bw = 1/10 of LD50) The animals were killed after 24 h and chromosome preparations mad e following a schedule of colchicine-fixative-air drying-Giemsa, The endpoi nts screened were chromosomal aberrations and damaged cells. The crude extr act reduced arsenic damage bringing the cells almost to the normal level, C opyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.