ANTIGENOTOXICITY OF ROSMARINIC ACID IN V79 CELLS EVALUATED BY THE COMET ASSAY

BM02

Ricardo Andrade Furtado; Wilson Roberto Cunha; Denise Crispim Tavares

Universidade de Franca, Franca, São Paulo, Brazil.

Rosmarinic acid (RA), a natural phenolic compound, is mainly found in species of the family Boraginaceae and in the subfamily Nepetoidae (family Lamiaceae). A number of bioactivities have been assigned to RA, such as antidepressive, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic, antitumor, and HIV-1-inhibiting properties. RA is also known to possess marked antioxidant properties as a reactive species scavenger and lipid peroxidation inhibitor. RA has a broad range of applications, including products ranging from food preservatives and cosmetics to medications. Therefore, the evaluation of a possible genotoxicity activity of RA is important to guarantee its safe use in humans. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the genotoxic and/or antigenotoxic potential of RA on Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 cells) using the Comet assay. Three doses of RA (100, 200 and 400 µg/mL) were used for the evaluation of its genotoxic potential. In the antigenotoxicity assays, the different concentrations of RA were combined with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DXR, 0.5 µg/mL). Cell viability was measured by the trypan blue dye-exclusion test, all measurements conduced with V79 indicated viability of >90% for all experimental groups. The Comet assay revealed that the different concentrations of RA tested presented no genotoxic activity. Treatment with different concentrations of RA combined with DXR showed a significant reduction in the frequency of DNA damage compared to cultures treated with DXR only. Although the mechanisms underlying the antimutagenicity of RA are not completely understood, the putative antioxidant activity of RA might explain its effect on DXR genotoxicity.