Evaluation of the effects of ellagic acid (EA) on 7,12-dimethylbenz(α) anthracene (DMBA) induced micronuclei in mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo.

We evaluated the protective effects of EA, a promising dietary constituent against degenerative diseases, on the clastogenic action of the model carcinogen DMBA in vitro on human hepatoma cells (HepG2) and in vivo on bone marrow of mice, using the frequencies of induced micronuclei as the end point. Pre-, post- and simultaneous treatments with EA and the carcinogen were carried out in vitro. Simultaneous treatment with EA caused a statistically significant increase of DMBA induced MN, suggesting a direct interaction between the two agents. No significant reduction in DMBA induced MN was found by pre- or post treatment with EA. Similar effects were observed in the toxicity assay. In in vivo experiments, EA pre-treatment did not affect the frequencies of MN in PCEs of bone marrow induced by DMBA. A good correlation was found between in vitro and in vivo experiments. Our results did not reveal any clear indication on the efficacy of EA on the induction of micronuclei by DMBA. EA by itself did not show any harmful effects.