Ragunathan Irulappan, Panneerselvam Natarajan
Research Centre and Postgraduate Studies in Botany, Madura College, Madurai-625 011, Tamil Nadu, India.
J Zhejiang Univ Sci B. 2007 Jul;8(7):470-5. doi: 10.1631/jzus.2007.B0470.
Turmeric has long been used as a spice and food colouring agent in Asia. In the present investigation, the antimutagenic potential of curcumin was evaluated in Allium cepa root meristem cells. So far there is no report on the biological properties of curcumin in plant test systems. The root tip cells were treated with sodium azide at 200 and 300 microg/ml for 3 h and curcumin was given at 5, 10 and 20 microg/ml for 16 h, prior to sodium azide treatment. The tips were squashed after colchicine treatment and the cells were analyzed for chromosome aberration and mitotic index. Curcumin induces chromosomal aberration in Allium cepa root tip cells in an insignificant manner, when compared with untreated control. Sodium azide alone induces chromosomal aberrations significantly with increasing concentrations. The total number of aberrations was significantly reduced in root tip cells pretreated with curcumin. The study reveals that curcumin has antimutagenic potential against sodium azide induced chromosomal aberrations in Allium cepa root meristem cells. In addition, it showed mild cytotoxicity by reducing the percentage of mitotic index in all curcumin treated groups, but the mechanism of action remains unknown. The antimutagenic potential of curcumin is effective at 5 microg/ml in Allium cepa root meristem cells.
姜黄在亚洲长期以来一直被用作香料和食品着色剂。在本研究中，在洋葱根尖分生组织细胞中评估了姜黄素的抗诱变潜力。到目前为止，尚无关于姜黄素在植物测试系统中的生物学特性的报道。在叠氮化钠处理前，将根尖细胞用200和300微克/毫升的叠氮化钠处理3小时，并用5、10和20微克/毫升的姜黄素处理16小时。秋水仙碱处理后将根尖压片，并分析细胞的染色体畸变和有丝分裂指数。与未处理的对照相比，姜黄素以不显著的方式诱导洋葱根尖细胞中的染色体畸变。单独使用叠氮化钠会随着浓度增加而显著诱导染色体畸变。用姜黄素预处理的根尖细胞中的畸变总数显著减少。该研究表明，姜黄素对叠氮化钠诱导的洋葱根尖分生组织细胞中的染色体畸变具有抗诱变潜力。此外，它通过降低所有姜黄素处理组中的有丝分裂指数百分比显示出轻度细胞毒性，但其作用机制仍然未知。姜黄素的抗诱变潜力在5微克/毫升时对洋葱根尖分生组织细胞有效。
