Szeto Yim Tong, Lee Loretta Kit Yee
Department of Applied Science, Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Shatin), Hong Kong, China ; Macao Society for the Study of Women's Health, Macao, China.
Department of Pathology, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
J Intercult Ethnopharmacol. 2014 Oct-Dec;3(4):155-8. doi: 10.5455/jice.20140819030913. Epub 2014 Aug 26.
Panax notoginseng (PN) is a well-known Chinese medicinal herb traditionally used as a hemostatic agent that strengthens and builds blood. The free radicals scavenging and antioxidant property of PN have been demonstrated in various studies either in vitro or in animal models, however, the genoprotective effect at human cellular level remains to be elucidated.
The current supplementation study aimed to investigate the genoprotective effect of PN. The study explored the DNA protection effect after a single dose of 2500 mg commercial notoginseng extract in water.
Six subjects, (3 males, 3 females) were recruited and each attended two trials. In the first trial, pre-ingestion and 2 hour-post-ingestion blood samples were collected and they were challenged with 50 µM H2O2. In the second trial, water was taken instead as control. Lymphocytes with or without challenge were then subjected to comet assay. DNA damage was assessed under fluorescent microscope.
Results showed a significant (P < 0.05) but mild decrease (3%) in the comet score after PN supplementation, indicating that PN supplementation reduces the H2O2-induced DNA damage in the lymphocytes and enhanced their resistance to oxidative damage giving a mild acute genoprotective effect against oxidant challenge. No change of comet score was observed in control trial.
三七是一种著名的中药材，传统上用作止血剂，具有养血补血的功效。三七的自由基清除和抗氧化特性已在各种体外或动物模型研究中得到证实，然而，其在人类细胞水平的基因保护作用仍有待阐明。
本补充研究旨在探讨三七的基因保护作用。该研究探索了单次服用2500毫克市售三七水提取物后的DNA保护效果。
招募了6名受试者（3名男性，3名女性），每人参加两项试验。在第一项试验中，采集摄入前和摄入后2小时的血样，并用50微摩尔过氧化氢对其进行刺激。在第二项试验中，改服水作为对照。然后对经或未经刺激的淋巴细胞进行彗星试验。在荧光显微镜下评估DNA损伤情况。
结果显示，补充三七后彗星试验评分有显著（P < 0.05）但轻微的下降（3%），表明补充三七可减少过氧化氢诱导的淋巴细胞DNA损伤，并增强其对氧化损伤的抵抗力，对氧化应激挑战产生轻微的急性基因保护作用。在对照试验中未观察到彗星试验评分的变化。
