Protection by Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer against the genotoxicity of doxorubicin in somatic cells of Drosophila melanogaster

Open access
Date
2008Type
- Journal Article
Abstract
Panax ginseng is one of the most widely prescribed herbal medicines for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammation, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Since the use of alternative medicines in combination with conventional therapy may increase the risk of unwanted interactions, we investigated the possible genotoxicity of a water-soluble form of the dry root of P. ginseng (2.5, 5.0 or 10.0 mg/mL) and its ability to protect against the genotoxicity of doxorubicin (DOX; 0.125 mg/mL) by using the Drosophila melanogaster wing somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) with standard and high-bioactivation crosses of flies. Panax ginseng was not genotoxic at the concentrations tested, whereas DOX-induced genotoxicity in marker-heterozygous flies resulted mainly from mitotic recombination. At low concentrations, P. ginseng had antirecombinogenic activity that was independent of the concentration of extract used. Recombination events may promote cancer, but little is known about the ability of P. ginseng to inhibit such recombination or modulate DNA repair mechanisms. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000069185Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Genetics and Molecular BiologyVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
SBGSubject
Antigenotoxicity; SMART; Wing spot testMore
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