Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab 143005, India.
Food Chem Toxicol. 2010 Jan;48(1):320-5. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2009.10.019. Epub 2009 Oct 21.
Rubia cordifolia L. (Rubiaceae) is an important medicinal plant used in the Ayurvedic medicinal system. Its use as a traditional therapeutic has been related to the treatment of skin disorders and cancer. Besides its medicinal value, anthraquinones from this plant are used as natural food colourants and as natural hair dyes. Dyes derived from natural sources have emerged as important alternatives to synthetic dyes. Alizarin (1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone) was isolated and characterized from R. cordifolia L. and evaluated for its antigenotoxic potential against a battery of mutagens viz. 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPD) and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) in Ames assay using TA98 tester strain of Salmonella typhimurium; hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) in SOS chromotest using PQ37 strain of Escherichia coli and in Comet assay using human blood lymphocytes. Our results showed that alizarin possessed significant modulatory role against the genotoxicity of mutagens.
小冠花（茜草科）是一种重要的药用植物，用于阿育吠陀医学体系。其作为传统疗法的用途与皮肤疾病和癌症的治疗有关。除了药用价值外，这种植物的蒽醌类化合物还被用作天然食用色素和天然染发剂。源自天然来源的染料已成为合成染料的重要替代品。从小冠花中分离并鉴定出茜素（1,2-二羟基蒽醌），并在鼠伤寒沙门氏菌 TA98 测试菌株的 Ames 试验中，使用 4-硝基邻苯二胺（NPD）和 2-氨基芴（2-AF）对其进行了抗原毒性评估；在大肠杆菌 PQ37 菌株的 SOS 显色试验中，使用过氧化氢（H 2 O 2 ）和 4-硝基喹啉-1-氧化物（4NQO）；在人血淋巴细胞的彗星试验中。我们的结果表明，茜素对诱变剂的遗传毒性具有显著的调节作用。
