Potencial citogenotóxico e antigenotóxico do hidrato de morina em células meristemáticas de Allium cepa L.

Abstract

Although several studies have been carried out with HM proving its pharmacological importance, research on toxicogenetic evaluation is still incipient. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the cytogenotoxic and antigenotoxic effect of HM on meristematic cells of Allium cepa. After germination, A. cepa seeds with roots between 1-2 cm were subjected to negative (2% dimethyl sulfoxide - DMSO) and positive (methylmethanesulfonate, MMS) control and HM (15, 30, 45 and 60 μg/mL) to evaluate cytogenotoxicity and antigenotoxicity (simultaneous protocols, pre and post-treatment). HM showed cytotoxic effects only at the highest concentrations (45 and 60 μg/mL), with a significant reduction in prophases, and was not genotoxic (30, 45, and 60 μg/mL). In terms of chemoprotection, HM was cytoprotective (15 and 30 μg/mL) in the pre-treatment and at all post-treatment concentrations, and antigenotoxic at all concentrations and protocols, except at the highest post-treatment concentrations. Thus, in general, HM did not interfere with cell cycle progression and did not cause DNA damage at most concentrations and was able to neutralize the genotoxic action of MMS, which may be associated with an important antioxidant activity of HM, making this molecule important for chemoprevention studies in tumor cells.