Similar articles

Abstract: In this study, freeze-dried water extract from the leaves of Myristica fragrans (Houtt.) was tested for mutagenic and antimutagenic potentials using the Allium cepa assay. Freeze-dried water extract alone and its combination with cyclophosphamide (CP) (50 mg/kg) were separately dissolved in tap water at 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 mg/kg. Onions (A. cepa) were suspended in the solutions and controls for 48 h in the dark. Root tips were prepared for microscopic evaluation. 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radicals’ scavenging power of the extract was tested using butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) as standards. Water extract of Myristica fragrans scavenged free radicals better than BHA, but worse than BHT. The extract alone, as well as in combination with CP suppressed cell division, and induced chromosomal aberrations that were insignificantly different from the negative control (P≤0.05). However, cytotoxic and mutagenic actions of CP were considerably suppressed. The observed effects on cell division and chromosomes of A. cepa may be principally connected to the antioxidant properties of the extract. The obtained results suggest mitodepressive and antimutagenic potentials of water extract of the leaves of M. fragrans as desirable properties of a promising anticancer agent.

[1]Ak, T., Gülçin, I., 2008. Antioxidant and radical scavenging properties of curcumin. Chem. Biol. Interact., 174(1):27-37.

[2]Akinboro, A., Bakare, A.A., 2007. Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of aqueous extracts of five medicinal plants on Allium cepa Linn. J. Ethnopharmacol., 112(3):470-475.

[3]Akinboro, A., Kamaruzaman, B.M., Mohd Zaini, A., Othman, A.S., 2011. Mutagenic and antimutagenic potentials of fruit juices of five medicinal plants in Allium cepa L.: possible influence of DPPH free radicals scavengers. Afr. J. Biotechnol., 10(51):10520-10529.

[4]Barcelos, G.R.M., Shimabukuro, F., Mori, M.P., Maciel, M.A.M., de Syllos Cólus, I.M., 2007. Evaluation of mutagenicity and antimutagenicity of cashew stem bark methanolic extract in vitro. J. Ethnopharmacol., 114(2):268-273.

[5]Calliste, C.A., Kozlowski, D., Durox, J.L., Champavier, Y., Chulia, A.J., Trouillas, P., 2010. A new antioxidant from wild nutmeg. Food Chem., 118(3):489-496.

[6]Chatterjee, S., Zareena, N., Gautam, S., Soumyakanti, A., Prasad, S.V., Arun, S., 2007. Antioxidant activity of some phenolic constituents from green pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and fresh nutmeg mace (Myristica fragrans). Food Chem., 101(2):515-523.

[7]Cherdshewasart, W., Sutjit, W., Pulcharoen, K., Panriansaen, R., Chulasiri, M., 2008. Antimutagenic potential of the Thai herb, Mucuna collettii Lace. J. Ethnopharmacol., 115(1):96-103.

[8]Chirathaworn, C., Kongcharoensuntorn, W., Dechdoungchan, T., Alisa Lowanitchapat, P.S., Poovorawan, Y., 2007. Myristica fragrans Houtt. methanolic extract induces apoptosis in a human leukemia cell line through SIRT1 mRNA downregulation. J. Med. Assoc. Thai, 90(11):2422-2428.

[9]Gülçin, I., 2009. Antioxidant activity of l-adrenaline: activity-structure insight. Chem. Biol. Interact., 179(2-3):71-80.

[10]Gülçin, I., 2010. Antioxidant properties of resveratrol: a structure-activity insight. Innov. Food Sci. Emerg. Technol., 11(1):210-218.

[11]Gülçin, I., Bursal, E., Şehitoglu, H.M., Bilsel, M., Gören, C.A., 2010. Polyphenol contents and antioxidant activity of lyophilized aqueous extract of propolis from Erzurum, Turkey. Food Chem. Toxicol., 48(8-9):2227-2238.

[12]Gupta, R.K., Achyut, N.K., Sandhya, D., Ameetabh, T., Vibha, T., Ramesh, C., Geeta, W., 2008. In vivo evaluation of anti-oxidant and anti-lipidimic potential of Annona squamosa aqueous extract in type 2 diabetic models. J. Ethnopharmacol., 118(1):21-25.

[13]Halliwell, B., 1994. Free radicals, antioxidants, and human disease: curiosity, cause, or consequence? Lancet, 344(8924):721-724.

[14]Ham, S.S., Kim, S.H., Moon, S.Y., Chung, M.J., Cui, C.B., Han, E.K., Chung, C.K., Choe, M., 2009. Antimutagenic effects of subfractions of Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) extract. Mutat. Res., 672(1):55-59.

[15]Jemal, A., Siegel, R., Ward, E., Hao, Y., Xu, J., Thun, M.J., 2009. Cancer statistics. CA Cancer J. Clin., 59(4):225-249.

[16]Khan, P.K., Sinha, S.P., 2008. Antimutagenic profile of antioxidant vitamins in droophila mutation test. Biomed. Environ. Sci., 21(2):163-166.

[17]Kumaran, A., Karunakaran, J.R., 2007. Antioxidant activity of Cassia auriculata flowers. Fitoterapia, 78(1):46-47.

[18]Loh, D.S.Y., Meng Er, H., Chen, Y.S., 2009. Mutagenic and antimutagenic activities of aqueous and methanol extracts of Euphorbia hirta. J. Ethnopharmacol., 126(3):406-414.

[19]Lopes e Lopes, M.I., Jenifer, S., Sergio, E., Joao Antonio, P.H., Mirian, S., 2004. Mutagenic and antioxidant activities of Croton lechleri sap in biological systems. J. Ethnopharmacol., 95(2-3):437-445.

[20]Mošovská, S., Milkulášová, M., Brindzová, L., Valík, L., Mikušova, L., 2010. Genotoxic and antimutagenic activities of extracts from pseudocereals in the Salmonella mutagenicity assay. Food Chem. Toxicol., 48(6):1483-1487.

[21]Murias, M., Jäger, W., Handler, N., Erker, T., Horvath, Z., Szekeres, T., Nohl, H., Gille, L., 2005. Antioxidants, prooxidant and cytotoxic activity of hydroxylated resveratrol analogues: structure-activity relationship. Biochem. Pharmacol., 69(6):903-912.

[22]Nagano, I., 2008. Myristica fragrans: an exploration of the narcotic spice. Entheogen Rev., 16(1):15-24.

[23]Negi, P.S., Jayaprakasha, G.K., Jena, B.S., 2003. Antioxidant and antimutagenic activities of pomegranate peel extracts. Food Chem., 80(3):393-397.

[24]Odin, A.P., 1997. Vitamins as antimutagens: advantages and some possible mechanisms of antimutagenic action. Mutat. Res., 386(1):39-67.

[25]Olaleye, M.T., Afolabi, C.A., Akindahunsi, A.A., 2006. Antioxidant properties of Myristica fragrans (Houtt.) and its effect on selected organs of albino rats. Afr. J. Biotechnol., 5(13):1274-1278.

[26]Öztürk, M., Fatma, A.O., Mehmet, E.D., Gülacti, T., 2007. Antioxidant activity of stem and root extracts of Rhubarb (Rheum ribes): an edible medicinal plant. Food Chem., 103(2):623-630.

[27]Parvathy, K.S., Negi, P.S., Srinivas, P., 2009. Antioxidant, antimutagenic and antibacterial of curcumin-β-diglucoside. Food Chem., 115(1):265-271.

[28]Radić, S., Draženka, S., Valerija, V., Marija, M.R., Siniša, Š., Branka, P.K., 2010. The evaluation of surface and wastewater genotoxicity using the Allium cepa test. Sci. Total Environ., 408(5):1228-1233.

[29]Ragunathan, I., Panneersel, V.N., 2007. Antimutagenic potential of curcumin on chromosomal aberrations in Allium cepa. J. Zhejiang Univ.-Sci. B, 8(7):470-475.

[30]Rauscher, R., Edenharder, R., Platt, K.L., 1998. In vitro antimutagenic and in vivo anticlastogenic effects of carotenoids and solvent extracts from fruits and vegetables rich in carotenoids. Mutat. Res., 413(2):129-142.

[31]Saxena, P.N., Gupta, S.K., Murthy, R.C., 2010. Carbofuran induced cytogenetic effects in root meristem cells of Allium cepa and Allium sativum: a spectroscopic approach for chromosome damage. Pestic. Biochem. Physiol., 96(2):93-100.

[32]Su, L., Yin, J.J., Charles, D., Zhou, K., Moore, J., Yu, L., 2007. Total phenolic contents, chelating capacities and radical-scavenging properties of black peppercorn, nutmeg, rosehip, cinnamon and oregano leaf. Food Chem., 100(3):990-997.

[33]Talaz, O., Gülcin, I., Goksu, S., Saracoglu, N., 2009. Antioxidant activity of 5,10-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]indoles containing substituents on dihydroindeno part. Bioorgan. Med. Chem., 17(18):6583-6589.

[34]Tiwari, A.K., 2001. Imbalance in antioxidant defence and human disease: multiple approach of natural antioxidants therapy. Curr. Sci., 81(9):1179-1187.

[35]Türkoğlu, S., 2008. Evaluation of genotoxic effects of sodium propionate, calcium propionate and potassium propionate on the root meristem cells of Allium cepa. Food Chem. Toxicol., 46(6):2035-2041.

[36]Vitaglione, P., Fogliano, V., 2004. Use of antioxidants to minimize the human health risk associated to mutagenic/carcinogenic heterocyclic amines in food. J. Chromatogr. B, 802(1):189-199.

[37]Zahin, M., Iqbal, A., Farrukh, A., 2010. Antioxidant and antimutagenic activity of Carum copticum fruit extracts. Toxicol. in Vitro, 24(4):1243-1249.