EFEITO CITOTÓXICO DIFERENCIAL DO EXTRATO HIDROETANÓLICO DE ERVA-MATE (ILEX PARAGUARIENSIS) SOBRE ERITRÓCITOS E CÉLULAS MONONUCLEARES DE SANGUE PERIFÉRICO.

For the use of yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) as a medicinal plant, it is necessary to determine safe and effective concentrations and forms of use. In vitro cytotoxicity screening models provide preliminary data to select potentially beneficial safe doses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acute cytotoxicity of different concentrations of a hydroethanolic extract of yerba mate leaves in two models of human blood cells. For this, erythrocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 healthy individuals were incubated with different concentrations of the hydroethanolic extract of yerba mate for 150 minutes at 37 ° C. After incubation, biochemical tests for cytotoxicity detection were performed. The concentration of 1000µg/mL of extract increased hemolysis, osmotic fragility and lipid peroxidation in erythrocytes, but had no cytotoxic effect on mononuclear cells. These data suggest that high concentrations of extract can be toxic to some cell types and, therefore, safe concentrations of use are essential for the recommendation of yerba mate as a medicinal plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]