Antagonistic effects of Satureja hortensis essential oil against AFB, on human lymphocytes in vitro

Satureja hortensis L. (Lamiaceae) has been used as a folk remedy to treat various such as cramps, muscle pains, nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, and infectious diseases. In this study, the antagonistic effects of essential oil of S. hortensis (SHE) were studied against aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) in human lymphocytes in vitro. The analysis of the essential oil was performed by using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Anti-genotoxic effects of the SHEs was evaluated using sister chromatid exchange (SCE), micronuclei (MN) tests against AFB1. Also level of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities used to determine the anti-oxidative effects of the SHEs. This result showed AFB(1) (5 mu M) increased the frequencies of SCE, MN and the level of MDA. AFB1 at the same concentration decreased the activities of SOD and GPx. However, different concentrations of SHE with AFB(1) decreased the frequency of SCE and MN and level of MDA and also increased the activities of SOD and GPx significantly. Especially, the 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 mu L dose of SHE are more effective than other doses. The results of this experiment have clearly shown that SHE has strong antioxidative and antigenotoxic effects, these biological activities of SHEs can be due to its component.