Protective role of methanol extracts of two lichens on oxidative and genotoxic damage caused by AFB1 in human lymphocytes in vitro.

In this study, the antigenotoxic and antioxidant effects of Umbilicaria vellea (UME) and Xantho somloensis (XME) extracts were determined using sister chromatid exchange (SCE), micronuclei (MN) assays, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels against the effects of aflatoxin B(1) (AFB(1))-induced oxidative stress and genotoxicity in human lymphocytes in vitro. The results showed that the frequencies of SCE, MN, and MDA level decreased, but the activities of SOD and GPx increased when 5 μg/mL and 10 μg/mL doses of UME and XME were added to AFB(1)-treated cultures. Also the present results indicate that strong antioxidative and the antigenotoxicity mechanisms of UME and XME are associated with its antioxidant nature.