Journal of
Medicinal Plants Research

  • Abbreviation: J. Med. Plants Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0875
  • DOI: 10.5897/JMPR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 3843

Full Length Research Paper

DNA damages promoted by the essential oil from leaves of Casearia sylvestris Sw. (Salicaceae)

Flaviane G. Pereira
  • Flaviane G. Pereira
  • Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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Ronaldo Marquete
  • Ronaldo Marquete
  • Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE), Diretoria de Geociências – Coordenadoria de Recursos Naturais – CREN, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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Letícia O. Cruz
  • Letícia O. Cruz
  • Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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Adriano Caldeira-de-Arujo
  • Adriano Caldeira-de-Arujo
  • Departamento de Biofísica e Biometria, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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Elisabeth Mansur
  • Elisabeth Mansur
  • Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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Davyson de Lima Moreira
  • Davyson de Lima Moreira
  • Instituto de Tecnologia em Fármacos, Departamento de Produtos Naturais, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
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  •  Received: 20 August 2016
  •  Accepted: 25 October 2016
  •  Published: 25 November 2016

Abstract

The Casearia species (Salicaceae) occur in the tropics and subtropics and their extracts are rich in clerodane-type diterpenes, known as casearins. According to the literature, extracts from Casearia sylvestris exhibit cytotoxic and genotoxic effects in different tumor cell lines, possibly related to the casearins. On the other hand, there are few studies related to the DNA damages of the essential oils from this species. This study is aimed at evaluating DNA damages promoted by the essential oil from leaves of C. sylvestris collected in Rio de Janeiro. The essential oil was obtained from fresh leaves (1.5 kg) by hydrodistillation for 2 h in a Clevenger-type apparatus, and analyzed both by gas chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled to a flame ionization detector (GC-FID). These analyses revealed a very diversified (n = 21 compounds) volatile fraction composed mainly of non-oxygenated sesquiterpenes (72.1%), and the major component was identified as α-humulene (17.8%). Genotoxicity was evaluated by the comet assay, showing DNA damages, mainly of classes 3 and 4 at 4.0 µg/ml (p < 0.05) according to the damage index (DI). This is the first demonstration of DNA damages in response to the essential oil of C. sylvestris.

Key words: A549, α-humulene, comet assay, sesquiterpenes.

Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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