CYTOTOXIC AND GENOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF A MEDICINAL PLANT; Azadirachta indica IN ALBINO MICE (Mus musculus)

Medicinal plants have formed the basis of health care. Many herbal drugs are frequently used in their crude form by a large number of people. It may lead to a large-scale exposure of human to natural products. One of such medicinal plant is Azadirachta indica popularly known as Neem. The present work is an attempt to assess the cytogenotoxic potential of the extract from the leaves of Azadirachta indica in Swiss albino mice. Young weaning Swiss albino mice (Mus musculus) were orally administered leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (Neem, Family Maliacae). The extract significantly induced the division disruptive chromosomal changes in bone marrow as well as in primary spermatocytes. It is proposed that the extract might have interfered with the spindle protein or protein packing.