THE GENOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CROCUS SATIVUS L, (SAFFRON) EXTRACT ON DOXORUBICIN-INDUCED GENOTOXICITY IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

摘要

Crocus sativus L. (saffron) is a medicinal plant that has been used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases since ancient times. Saffron also has a distinctive aroma and is used as a food coloring, in addition to its therapeutic effects. In this study the genotoxic and antigenotoxic impacts of saffron were evaluated using the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART). Doxorubicin, a chemotherapeutic drug, was used as a genotoxic agent to evaluate the antigenotoxic activity of saffron. Transheterozygous larvae obtained from a standard cross between flare (flr~3) and multiple wing hair (mwh) mutant strains of Drosophila melanogaster were treated with the test materials. Saffron extract was applied at three different concentrations (1,5 and 10 mg/mL) to evaluate any genotoxic effect. In the antigenotoxic assessment, each dose of the saffron extract was co-administered with doxorubicin (0.125 mg/mL). The data obtained from our study indicated that the ethanol extract of saffron did not show any genotoxic effect but instead exerted a powerful protective effect against the genotoxic effect of doxorubicin that was dose dependent.