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Publication
Evaluation of chemopreventive effects of a hexanic extract prepared from Morinda citrifolia fruits
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
The identification of bioactive natural compounds that are able to reduce the
deleterious health effects of toxicants is of utmost importance. One of these toxicants
is patulin (PAT), a common mycotoxin affecting fruits’ integrity and representing a
serious health concern. Morinda citrifolia (noni) is a tropical plant that has been used
in traditional medicine mainly for its therapeutic properties. This work intended to
explore the chemopreventive properties of the noni fruit, using an hexanic extract
prepared and characterized in Brazil.
The potential capacity of the noni extract to reduce the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects
of three compounds with dissimilar modes of action – PAT, ethyl methanesulphonate
(EMS) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) – was evaluated in a liver-derived human cell line
(HepG2 cells) through the MTT and the Comet assays, respectively.
The results showed that cells’ pre-exposure to the extract followed by co-exposure to
PAT, EMS or H2O2 was able to significantly reduce the level of cytotoxicity and
genotoxicity induced by the toxicants alone. When compared to caffeic acid, a
recognized antioxidant, the noni extract revealed a capacity to reduce both patulinand
H2O2-induced cytotoxicity, suggesting that its chemopreventive properties do not
rely exclusively on an antioxidant potential.
In conclusion, this study showed that the hexanic fraction of the Morinda citrifolia fruit
displays a promising chemopreventive action against several toxic agents that deserves
further investigation. The properties of other noni fruit fractions or extracts from other
parts of the plant (e.g., leaves and roots) also need to be explored.
Description
Keywords
Morinda citrifolia Fruit Patulin Genotoxicity Cytotoxicity Genotoxicidade Ambiental