Genotoxicity of Drugs: Mechanisms, Testing Guidelines and Methods for Evaluation

It is estimated that 80% of world population rely on traditional herbal medicine for primary health care. With the rising utilization of herbal products, safety and efficacy of herbal medicine have become a public health concern. Adverse health effects associated with herbal products could be attributed to both inherent toxic effects of herbal medicine and toxicities induced by adulterants.Although often perceived as innocuous by the general public, many herbs phytochemicals that are either directly reactive towards DNA or likely to disturb cellular homeostasis, cell cycle, andr genome maintenance mechanisms; this may translate into genotoxicity, carcinogenicity, or co-carcinogenicity. Genotoxicity refers to the deleterious effect of a chemical compound or a physical event on the genetic material; such genotoxic events are considered hallmarks of cancer risk. The numerous genome maintenance mechanisms of the cell and may not lead to cancer. The long-term safety evaluation is probably better investigated through carcinogenicity, which denotes the capacity of a chemical substance or a mixture of chemical substances to induce cancer or increase its incidence.