Abstract
Artemia salina (brine shrimp) has been successfully
used for toxicity testing, and a screening test for phototoxicity has been
developed based on this method. The ability of the method to test the phototoxic
potential of seven known compounds was investigated. Athamantin (an angular
furanocoumarin) and umbelliferone (a simple coumarin) showed no phototoxicity,
while linear furanocoumarins exhibited phototoxic activity in the following
order: psoralen > bergapten > peucedanin > xanthotoxin. The applicability
of this method was also tested in screening the phototoxicity of plant material.
Six plants from Apiaceae [Aegopodium podagraria L., Anethum graveolens L., Angelica archangelica L., Levisticum officinalis Koch,
Petroselinum crispum (P. Mill) A. W. Hill., and
Peucedanum palustre (L.) Moench] and one from Rutaceae (
Ruta graveolens L.) were selected, all of them known to contain furanocoumarins.
Extracts from leaves collected at different times during the growth period
were used in the screening. Our results were in accordance with the furanocoumarin
content of these plants and with the results of other phototoxicity tests.
The Artemia salina method proved to be rapid, simple
and inexpensive, and is therefore ideal in the initial biological screening
of large numbers of samples for simultaneous detection of both toxicity and
phototoxicity.
Key words
Artemia salina
- phototoxicity - toxicity - furanocoumarins - Apiaceae - Rutaceae
