Apigenin ameliorates gamma radiation-induced cytogenetic alterations in cultured human blood lymphocytes.

The aim of the present study was to assess the protective effect of apigenin, a dietary flavone, against cytogenetic alterations in human peripheral blood lymphocytes (HPBL) induced by Cobalt-60 radiation (3Gy). Results of MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethyl-2-thiaozolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H tetrazolium bromide] assay revealed that 37.2μM of apigenin was found to be non-toxic in HPBL. At this dose (37.2μM) of apigenin, the LD(50) radiation dose of HPBL increased from 2.9Gy to 3.4Gy, which resulted in a DMF of 1.17. Apigenin (37.2μM) treatment 1h before irradiation significantly (p<0.05) reduced DNA damage in irradiated HPBL as measured by comet assay (% tail DNA, tail length, tail moment, and olive tail moment). Moreover, apigenin treatment significantly decreased the frequencies of dicentric (DC), acentric fragments (AF), and acentric rings (AR) in irradiated HPBL. Apigenin pretreatment also reduced the radiation-induced CBMN (cytokinesis blocked micronuclei) anomalies such as micronuclei (MNi), nucleoplasmic bridges (NPB) and nuclear buds (NBUD) in HPBL. These results also showed that there was a significant correlation between NPB and DC frequencies and MNi and AF+AR. Treatment with apigenin alone had no significant effect on DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations in HPBL. Thus, the current studies indicate that apigenin protects HPBL from radiation-induced cytogenetic alterations.