Abstract
Chios mastic products are well-known for their broad applications in food industry, cosmetics, and healthcare since the antiquity. Given our recent finding that Chios mastic water (CMW) exerts antigenotoxic action, in the present study, we evaluated the genotoxic as well as the antigenotoxic potential of the four major compounds of CMW, namely, verbenone, α-terpineol, linalool, and trans-pinocarveol. The cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) assay in cultured human lymphocytes and the Drosophila Somatic Mutation And Recombination Test (SMART), also known as the wing spot test, were employed. None of the four major CMW’s constituents or their mixtures showed genotoxic or recombinogenic activity in either of the assays used. Co-treatment of each of the constituents with MMC revealed that all except trans-pinocarveol exerted antigenotoxic potential. Moreover, co-administration of verbenone with linalool or α-terpineol presented statistically significant reduction of MMC-induced mutagenicity. In conclusion, the major CMW constituents were shown to be free of genotoxic effects, while some exerted antigenotoxic activity either alone or in combinations, suggesting synergistic phenomena. Our results provide evidence on the key antigenotoxicity effectors of the plant extract CMW.
Highlights
Chios Mastic gum, a natural product of protected designation of origin, is derived from the endemic bush Pistacia lentiscus (L.) var. chia (Duham) in the Greek island of Chios[1]
Despite the increasing international interest for mastic products and their proposed clinical applications[3], no data on their potential genotoxicity are available with the exception of our recent studies on the genotoxicity and antigenotoxicity status of the commercially available Chios Mastic oil (CMO), the essential oil of mastic resin, and Chios Mastic Water (CMW), the aqueous solution produced during the steam distillation of mastic resin
The cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) assay was applied to evaluate the genotoxic activity of the four CMW constituents at three concentrations (25, 50 and 100 μg/ml), and the same doses were tested combined with MMC in order to identify the antigenotoxic effect of the constituents against the genotoxic damage induced by MMC
Summary
Chios Mastic gum, a natural product of protected designation of origin, is derived from the endemic bush Pistacia lentiscus (L.) var. chia (Duham) in the Greek island of Chios[1]. Mastic products are meeting international demand due to the multitude of beneficial properties that are attributed to them since the antiquity and they are widely used in the selfcare, food, and cosmetics sectors worldwide[2,3]. Their beneficial biological activities have been thoroughly documented by a number of studies showing their antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiatherogenic, and anticancer properties. In an effort to identify which CMW constituents exert protective effects against the mutagenic effects of MMC, in the present study, we evaluated the genotoxic and antigenotoxic activity of its major components, namely verbenone, α-terpineol, linalool, and trans-pinocarveol[6]. Micronuclei (MN) are formed as a result of the inability of acentric chromosome fragments or whole chromosomes to migrate to the poles during the anaphase stage, which renders it possible to detect aneugenic and clastogenic effects in cells having undergone cell division after being exposed to the test chemical[7,8]
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