TITLE:
Essential Oils from Mentha viridis (L). L. and Mentha pulegium L.: Cytogenotoxic Effects on Human Cells
AUTHORS:
Lucilene Fernandes Silva, Maria das Graças Cardoso, Paulo Sérgio Castilho Preté, Maria Luisa Teixeira, David Lee Nelson, Maísa Lamounier Magalhães, Vanuzia Rodrigues Fernandes Ferreira, Rafaela Vieira Souza, Luana Isac Soares, Silvana Marcussi
KEYWORDS:
Essential Oils, Mentha viridis (L). L., Mentha pulegium L., Hemolysis, Comet Assay
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.6,
May
26,
2017
ABSTRACT: The essential oils from Mentha viridis (L). L. and Mentha pulegium L. were studied to assess their inhibitory
potential on phospholipase from snake venoms and to determine their
cytogenotoxic action on human cells. These essential oils were able to inhibit
the breakdown of phospholipids induced by venoms of snakes of the Bothrops genus. Both oils presented hemolytic activity,
although the Mentha viridis (L). L. oil induced hemolysis only at the highest
concentrations (14.6 and 29 μL·mL-1). The essential oil from M. viridis induced 3.9; 8.6 and 16.2 times greater damage to
human leukocyte DNA than that observed with the positive control (100 μg·μL-1 doxorubicin) at concentrations of 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0
μL·mL-1, respectively. A similar effect was observed for
the oil from M. pulegium (2.1, 2.5 and 15.8 times greater damage). The results
extend the characterization of these essential oils and demonstrate their
potential use in industries.