Department of Applied Science, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Shatin), Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Am J Chin Med. 2011;39(4):827-38. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X11009238.
Some traditional Chinese medicinal seeds and fruits are well known for their antioxidant properties. This research aims to investigate whether Fructus Lycii, Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis, Fructus Ligustri Lucidi and Semen Cuscutae protect DNA from oxidant challenge by hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)). The standard comet assay was used to assess the genoprotective effect of these medicinal herbs. Blood was taken from three healthy adults, aged from 36 to 42. Lymphocytes were isolated and treated with different concentrations of aqueous herbal extracts, while controls were treated with phosphate buffered saline. The lymphocytes were stressed with 50 μM H(2)O(2). Treated cells were embedded in agarose and layered on slides. These sandwiched lymphocytes were lysed and afterwards subjected to an electric field in an alkaline environment. Damaged DNA was pulled out from the nucleus towards the positive electrode as a comet tail; its density was related to the degree of DNA damage. Finally, the slides were stained with fluorescence dye and tails were visually scored for 100 cells. The experiment was repeated three times and DNA damage in treated cells was compared to the controls. There was no statistical difference in DNA damage among the herb treated cells and untreated cells in the comet assay. Our data demonstrated that the selected medicinal herbs did not show in vitro DNA protection in the comet assay against oxidant challenge.
一些传统的中药种子和果实因其抗氧化特性而闻名。本研究旨在探讨枸杞、五味子、女贞子和菟丝子是否通过过氧化氢（H2O2）来保护 DNA 免受氧化剂的挑战。采用标准彗星试验来评估这些草药的基因保护作用。从 3 名年龄在 36 至 42 岁的健康成年人中抽取血液，分离淋巴细胞，并分别用不同浓度的水提草药提取物处理，而对照组用磷酸盐缓冲盐水处理。用 50μMH2O2 对淋巴细胞进行应激处理。处理后的细胞被嵌入琼脂糖中，并分层在载玻片上。这些夹层淋巴细胞被裂解，然后在碱性环境中施加电场。受损的 DNA 从细胞核中被拉向正极，形成彗星尾；其密度与 DNA 损伤程度有关。最后，用荧光染料对载玻片进行染色，并对 100 个细胞的尾巴进行可视评分。该实验重复了 3 次，并将处理细胞与对照细胞的彗星试验中的 DNA 损伤进行了比较。在彗星试验中，处理细胞和未处理细胞的 DNA 损伤没有统计学差异。我们的数据表明，所选的草药在体外彗星试验中没有显示出对氧化剂挑战的 DNA 保护作用。
