Study on the antimutagenic effect of pine needle extract.

The micronucleus test and sister-chromatic exchange (SCE) test were used to research the antimutagenic effect of pine needle extract. The results showed that the mutagenic effect of cyclophosphamide (CP) was inhibited by the pine needle extract. The micronucleus frequencies (MNF) of mouse bone marrow and human lymphocytes from peripheral blood were decreased with the effect of the extract (the dose was 2000 mg/kg or 5 mg/ml); the frequency of SCE in human lymphocytes was also reduced significantly, which indicated that the MNF and the SCE frequencies were negatively correlated with the dose of pine needle extract (r = -0.9782, -0.9587, -0.9765, respectively). This suggested that the pine needle extract was an effective antimutagen and it is important to choose the proper doses of pine needle extract for antitumor effect.