Earthworm, a novel in vivo system to validate antimitotic compounds

We report here that earthworm can be used as an in vivo system to prescreen antimitotic compounds. The known antimitotic compound colchicine and the aqueous extract of Acorus calamus L. rhizome were used to examine this system. The antimitotic activity of colchicine and the rhizome extract was confirmed by methods with Allium cepa root tip, earthworm regeneration, and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazolyl-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide). An earthworm regeneration assay examined the regeneration ability of tissues from amputated regions of the earthworm. All 3 assays showed that cell division is inhibited with colchicine and the aqueous extract of A. calamus rhizome.