Protective role of methanol extract of Cetraria islandica (L.) against oxidative stress and genotoxic effects of AFB₁ in human lymphocytes in vitro.

In this study, the antigenotoxic and antioxidant effects of Cetraria islandica methanol (CME) extract were determined by using sister chromatid exchange (SCE), micronuclei (MN) assays and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels against effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB₁) induced oxidative stress and genotoxicity in human lymphocytes in vitro. The results showed that the frequencies of SCE, MN and MDA level decreased, SOD and GPx activities increased when 5 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL doses of CME were added to AFB₁-treated cultures. Also, the present results indicate that CME has strong antioxidative and the antigenotoxicity mechanisms of CME are associated with its antioxidant nature.