Evaluation of the genotoxic potential of Bauhinia monandra leaf lectin (BmoLL)

Bauhinia monandra, a plant popularly known as “pata de vaca” in Brazil, is widespread in the world and widely used in folk medicine. BmoLL is a galactose-specific lectin obtained and purified from B. monandra leaves, whose hypoglycemiant potential has been recently demonstrated in rats. The present study was performed to investigate the genotoxic potential of BmoLL in a series of cell-free and bacterial assays. We based our test concentrations on those used in popular medicine. The results showed that lectin BmoLL was unable to produce genotoxicity or cytotoxicity in all the assays used. The results also demonstrated that BmoLL did not increase the frequency of reverse mutation in Salmonella typhimurium strains (TA97, TA98, TA100 and TA102), with and without metabolic activation. However, a significant decrease in the spontaneous mutation frequency was observed in Escherichia coli strains (CC104 and CC104 mutM mutY), especially in the repair-deficient strain, suggesting an anti-oxidative potential. B. monandra leaf lectin (BmoLL) did not induce cytotoxic or genotoxic effects in the battery of assays used.