Abstract
BackgroundDarjeeling tea, a most popular variety of black tea, though consumed by the people in different parts of world but its beneficial health effects have not been investigated in details. In this study, the antimutagenic and anticancer effect of Darjeeling tea extract (DTE) has been evaluated.MethodsAntimutagenic activity of the DTE was carried out in two different strains of Salmonella typhimurium by AMES test against a known mutagen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) with S9 activation. Moreover, anticlastogenic property of DTE was also measured by micronuclei formation (MN) against B[a]P with S9 activation in human lymphocytes. The anticancer activity of the same was studied on U937 cell line. Here, Human PBMCs were used as the normal cell control to identify selective anticancer activity of the extract against U937 cells.ResultsThe results showed significant antimutagenic activity on bacterial strains. A significant decrease in MN was also observed in the DTE treated human lymphocyte cultures pretreated with B[a]P when compared with B[a]P treated cultures alone. The study clearly exhibited anticancer activity of the extract on U937 cell line. Further studies also revealed that apoptosis induction is an important mechanism behind the anticancer effect of DTE.ConclusionOverall, this study indicates that DTE has significant antimutagenic and anticancer activities on bacterial and mammalian cells respectively.
Highlights
Darjeeling tea, a most popular variety of black tea, though consumed by the people in different parts of world but its beneficial health effects have not been investigated in details
RPMI 1640 medium liquid from Hyclone (Utah, USA), penicillin, and streptomycin were obtained from Pan Biotech (Aidenbach, Germany), gentamycin from Cambrex Bio Science Walkersville Inc (MD, USA), cell proliferation reagent WST-1 [2-(4-Iodophenyl)3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium] was obtained from Roche Diagnostics (Indianapolis, Indiana, USA), Alexa Fluor 488 annexin V/Dead Cell Apoptosis Kit with Alexa Fluor 488 annexin V and PI for Flow Cytometry, fetal bovine serum (FBS), phytohemagglutinin (M form) and amphotericin (B from) were purchased from Invitrogen (Carlsbad, CA, USA), caspase protease assay kit was purchased from Chemicon International Corporation (Temecula, CA, USA), Mitochondria/Cytosol fractionation kit from BioVision (Mountain View, CA, USA), Primary antibody of cytochrome c and β-actin and polyclonal secondary antibody were obtained from Cell Signaling Technology (Danvers, MA, USA)
The antimutagenicity assays in preincubation tests showed significant antimutagenic effects of Darjeeling tea extract (DTE), specially at higher concentrations, against the known positive mutagen B[a]P with S9 activation
Summary
Darjeeling tea, a most popular variety of black tea, though consumed by the people in different parts of world but its beneficial health effects have not been investigated in details. The antimutagenic and anticancer effect of Darjeeling tea extract (DTE) has been evaluated. Epidemiological and laboratory studies have indicated that regular consumption of tea has been associated with reduced risk of several forms of cancer in human and Darjeeling teas are the highest grown teas in the world in terms of altitude and preferred for its flavour, aroma and quality throughout the world from centuries [19]. This study was aimed to investigate the antimutagenic and anticancer potential of Darjeeling tea extract (DTE) by different standard laboratory methods
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