Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Eugenol in Lymphocytes

Abstract

Eugenol is a volatile phenolic constituent of clove essential oil obtained from Eugenia Caryophyllata buds and leaves. It is a functional ingredient in numerous products. It has been used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry and also in agriculture. Its derivatives have been used in medicine as a local antiseptic and anesthetic. Eugenol is also used in food industry in restricted concentrations. In addition, it is widely used in agricultural applications to protect food from microorganisms during storage. The wide range of pharmaceutical activities of eugenol includes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antioxidant and anticancer activities. Although eugenol is considered safe as a food additive but, due to the vast range of different applications and extensive use there has been a great concern about its toxicity in recent years. However, studies about cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of eugenol are very limited. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro cytotoxicity of eugenol on V79 cell line by the Neutral Red Uptake Assay (NRU). Our results demonstrated that eugenol has cytotoxic effect on V79 in a dose dependent manner. But at the concentrations below 340 μM eugenol has been found to have no cytotoxicity in V79 cells. We also studied the in vitro genotoxic effects of eugenol on human peripheral lymphocytes by Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis (Comet) Assay and micronucleus assay. According to the results no significant increase in DNA strand breakage was observed at non cytotoxic concentrations of eugenol when compared with their controls.