Anti-mutagenic Effect of Citral Against Mitomycin-C

Objective : To evaluate the anti-mutagenic activity of citral against the known clastogen mitomycin-C. Materials and methods: Citral was tested at 40 and 80 mg/kg body weight (b.w.) against mitomycin-C (MMC-4 mg/kg, b.w.) using micronucleus test system. Micronucleus (MN) frequency was evaluated in bone marrow and peripheral blood erythrocytes in mice and the sampling was done after 24, 48 and 72 h of clastogen treatment. The antioxidant effect of citral was studied in vitro by super oxide scavenging activity. Results: The results showed that citral significantly (p<0.001) inhibited the MN frequency induced by MMN, further it had exhibited a good super oxide scavenging activity (EC₅₀=19 mg/ml). Conclusion : The observations indicate that continuous presence of citral was essential in minimizing the genotoxic effects of MMC. Besides, it can be suggested that the antioxidant potential of citral was responsible for the anti-mutagenic effect of citral against MMC.