Ameliorative effect of Cymbopogon citratus extract on cisplatin-induced genotoxicity in human leukocytes

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Menofia University, Menofia, Egypt

Abstract

Cisplatin (Cis) as anticancer drug has many side effects and non-selective targeting of cancerous cells. In this work, the antigenotoxic potential of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) leaves aqueous extract (CC) against the cisplatininduced genotoxicity in human peripheral leukocytes was investigated in vitro. Firstly, the antioxidant activity of plant extract was investigated by DPPH method which proved a good antioxidant potential of CC extract. CC enhanced the proliferation and increased cell count when compared to the control and Cis-treated groups. Furthermore, the expression of nuclear protein Ki-67 as a marker of cell proliferation was tested immunocytochemically and the results supported the ameliorative effect of CC against the genotoxic effect of Cis. The nuclear dual acridine orange/ethidium bromide fluorescent staining of cells showed the distinct morphological features of apoptosis and cell death among Cis-treated groups. The reduction of total genomic DNA fragmentation on agarose gel was noted among CC-treated groups when compared to Cis-treated groups.

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