Abstract
Chios mastic oil (CMO), the essential oil derived from Pistacia lentiscus (L.) var. chia (Duham), has generated considerable interest because of its antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant and other beneficial properties. In the present study, the potential genotoxic activity of CMO as well as its antigenotoxic properties against the mutagenic agent mitomycin-C (MMC) were evaluated by employing the in vitro Cytokinesis Block MicroNucleus (CBMN) assay and the in vivo Somatic Mutation And Recombination Test (SMART). In the in vitro experiments, lymphocytes were treated with 0.01, 0.05 and 0.10% (v/v) of CMO with or without 0.05 μg/ml MMC, while in the in vivo assay Drosophila larvae were fed with 0.05, 0.10, 0.50 and 1.00% (v/v) of CMO with or without 2.50 μg/ml MMC. CMO did not significantly increase the frequency of micronuclei (MN) or total wing spots, indicating lack of mutagenic or recombinogenic activity. However, the in vitro analysis suggested cytotoxic activity of CMO. The simultaneous administration of MMC with CMO did not alter considerably the frequencies of MMC-induced MN and wing spots showing that CMO doesn’t exert antigenotoxic or antirecombinogenic action. Therefore, CMO could be considered as a safe product in terms of genotoxic potential. Even though it could not afford any protection against DNA damage, at least under our experimental conditions, its cytotoxic potential could be of interest.
Highlights
Natural products have been proven to possess multiple biological properties and gained significant interest for the development of various human-related applications, including medical treatments
Emboldened by our previous findings for antigenotoxicity and lack of genotoxicity of another mastic product, Chios mastic water (CMW) [1], in the present study we evaluated the possible cytotoxic, genotoxic and antigenotoxic activity of Chios mastic oil (CMO) with the cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) assay and the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART)
No statistically significant differences in the binucleated cells with micronuclei (BNMN) as well as in the MN frequencies were observed between control and CMO-treated cultures
Summary
Natural products have been proven to possess multiple biological properties and gained significant interest for the development of various human-related applications, including medical treatments. While most studies are focused on isolated compounds, there is increasing evidence that natural combinations of phytochemicals in extracts show enhanced properties [1,2]. Chia (Duham) from the Greek island Chios [3,4], has received much attention in recent years. The resin of the endemic bush Pistacia Lentiscus (L.) var. Both the resin itself and its essential oil, Chios mastic oil (CMO), have been thoroughly studied for their antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity [5,6,7,8,9] and they have shown great potential as anticancer and cytotoxic agents [10]. Its major compounds are α-pinene and β-myrcene, constisting more than 85% of the total concentration, while many other minor constituents have been identified by GC-MS analysis and FT-Raman spectroscopy [5,6,12]
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