Protective effects of Scutellaria lindbergii root extract against oxidative-induced cell and DNA damage in mouse fibroblast-like cells

Abstract

Context: Scutellaria lindbergii Rech. f. (Lamiaceae) is an Iranian species of Scutellaria which has been shown to exert antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic effects. Objective: The protective properties of total methanol extract (TME) of S. lindbergii and its fractions (defatted and CH₂Cl₂) were investigated against cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of H₂O₂ in NIH 3T3 cell line as non-malignant cells. Materials and methods: The cells were incubated with different concentrations of S. lindbergii root extracts [TME (15–250 μg ml⁻¹), defatted fraction (15–500 μg ml⁻¹) and CH₂Cl₂ fraction (5–40 μg ml⁻¹)] and toxic concentration of H₂O₂ (200 µM) at 37 °C for 2 h concurrently and Cell viability was quantitated by MTT assay. The antigenotoxic effect of extracts was investigated using comet assay. The cells were incubated with extracts [TME (25–250 μg ml⁻¹), defatted fraction (25–500 μg ml⁻¹) and CH₂Cl₂ fraction (5–40 μg ml⁻¹)] and H₂O₂ (25 µM) at 4 °C for 20 min, then the comet assay was performed. DNA damage was expressed as percentage tail DNA. Results: Total methanol extract of S. lindbergii and its fractions had a significant inhibitory effect on DNA damage. The IC₅₀ values of TME, defatted fraction and CH₂Cl₂ fraction against DNA damage were determined as 48, 138 and 8 μg ml⁻¹, respectively. Conclusion: S. lindbergii extracts can prevent oxidative DNA damage, which is likely due to its flavonoids and phenolic compounds as antioxidant constituents.

• Anticytotoxicity
• antigenotoxicity
• comet assay
• hydrogen peroxide
• Lamiaceae
• MTT assay

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the Research Council of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran for approval and financial support of this project. Also this research work was part of Pharm. D. thesis of A. Eshaghi.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.