Folic Acid Supplementation Reduces the Mutagenicity and Genotoxicity Caused by Benzo(a)pyrene

Abstract

Folate is a vital vitamin for the human being and its deficiency can lead to a variety of clinical abnormalities ranging from neural tube defects to cancers. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), a strong mutagen and carcinogen, is considered one of the common contaminants in food. The aim of this study was to investigate the positive effect of folate on cancer prevention at a fundamental level. In the present study, we investigated the impact of folic acid on BaP-induced mutagenicity and genotoxicity by means of in vitro and in vivo experiments. The reformed Ames test was applied to study the antimutagenicity of folic acid against BaP. The protective effect of folic acid on cytotoxicity caused by BaP in human liver cell line L02 was evaluated by MTT assay. In addition, the effect of folic acid on the BaP-induced genotoxicity in vivo was assessed by mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay. The results indicated that folic acid significantly inhibited the reverse mutation of Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100, and protected the viability of human liver cells against BaP (p<0.01). The micronucleus test showed that all doses of folic acid had a remarkable protective effect for the female mice (p<0.01). In conclusion, folic acid was found to reduce the mutagenicity and genotoxicity induced by BaP.