Abstract

Vinblastine an antimitotic agent is used to treat hematological malignancies and in combination cancer chemotherapy. Vinblastine produces second malignancies in the survivors which can be reduced/prevented in cancer patients by intervention with natural products. Naringin a grapefruit bioflavonoid was tested for its chemoprotective activity in cultured V79 cells. The V79 cells were treated with 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 200 µg/mL of naringin 1 h before exposure to 10 µg/mL of vinblastine. The DNA damage was evaluated by micronucleus assay at 22 h after vinblastine exposure in mononucleate, binucleate, and trinucleate cells. Vinblastine treatment increased the frequency of micronuclei significantly in both the mononucleate and binucleate V79 cells whereas different concentrations of naringin significantly reduced the formation of vinblastine-induced micronuclei. A maximum reduction in micronuclei formation was recorded at 200 µg/mL naringin in both mononucleate and binucleate cells. The determination of cell proliferation indicates that naringin treatment impacted the cell proliferation, especially at 2 to 25 µg/mL which increased at 200 µg/mL in both the naringin and naringin+vinblastine group as indicated by a rise in binucleate and trinucleate cell numbers. The present study indicates that naringin protects the V79 cells against vinblastine-induced DNA damage indicated by significant attrition in micronuclei formation and 200 µg/mL naringin was highly effective.

Keywords

V79 cells, vinblastine, naringin, micronuclei, DNA damage