Bhagavathy S, Sumathi P
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India.
Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2012 Feb;2(2):109-17. doi: 10.1016/S2221-1691(11)60203-7.
To identify the available phytochemicals and carotenoids in the selected green algae and evaluate the potential genotoxic/antigenotoxic effect using lymphocytes.
Organic solvent extracts of Chlorococcum humicola (C. humicola) were used for the phytochemical analysis. The available carotenoids were assessed by HPLC, and LC-MS analysis. The genotoxicity was induced by the benzo(a)pyrene in the lymphocyte culture, the genotoxic and antigenotoxic effects of algal carotenoids with and without genotoxic inducer were evaluated by chromosomal aberration (CA), sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and micronucleus assay (MN).
The results of the analysis showed that the algae were rich in carotenoids and fatty acids. In the total carotenoids lutein, β-carotene and α-carotene were found to be present in higher concentration. The frequency of CA and SCE increased by benzo(a)pyrene were significantly decreased by the carotenoids (P<0.05 for CA, P<0.001 for SCE). The MN frequencies of the cells were significantly decreased by the treatment with carotenoids when compared with the positive controls (P<0.05).
The findings of the present study demonstrate that, the green algae C. humicola is a rich source of bioactive compounds especially carotenoids which effectively fight against environmental genotoxic agents, the carotenoids itself is not a genotoxic substance and should be further considered for its beneficial effects.
鉴定所选绿藻中可用的植物化学物质和类胡萝卜素，并使用淋巴细胞评估其潜在的遗传毒性/抗遗传毒性作用。
使用绿球藻（Chlorococcum humicola，C. humicola）的有机溶剂提取物进行植物化学分析。通过高效液相色谱法（HPLC）和液相色谱-质谱联用（LC-MS）分析评估可用的类胡萝卜素。在淋巴细胞培养中用苯并(a)芘诱导遗传毒性，通过染色体畸变（CA）、姐妹染色单体交换（SCE）和微核试验（MN）评估有无遗传毒性诱导剂时藻类类胡萝卜素的遗传毒性和抗遗传毒性作用。
分析结果表明，该藻类富含类胡萝卜素和脂肪酸。在总类胡萝卜素中，发现叶黄素、β-胡萝卜素和α-胡萝卜素的浓度较高。苯并(a)芘增加的CA和SCE频率被类胡萝卜素显著降低（CA的P<0.05，SCE的P<0.001）。与阳性对照相比，用类胡萝卜素处理后细胞的MN频率显著降低（P<0.05）。
本研究结果表明，绿藻C. humicola是生物活性化合物特别是类胡萝卜素的丰富来源，其能有效对抗环境遗传毒性剂，类胡萝卜素本身不是遗传毒性物质，因其有益作用应进一步加以考虑。
