The protective effects of different parts of hypericum perforatum extracts on human mononuclear leukocytes in hydrogen peroxide-induced DNA damage and their phenolic contents

Abstract

Oxidative stress is the state of the formation of some pathophysiological condition with the excessive increase of the normal amount of free radicals in the organism. In this study, the in vivo genotoxic and antigenotoxic effects of methanol and water extract and phenolic content of Hypericum perforatum flower, fruit, and seed methanol extracts were analyzed. HPLC was used to evaluate the quantities of 3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid, syringic acid, hydroxycinnamic acid, O-coumaric acid, caffeic acid, and catechin in the methanol extracts. The alkaline comet test was used to assess the DNA damage and protective effects of H. perforatum flower fruit, seed methanol, and water extract on human mononuclear leukocytes. The amounts of catechin and caffeic acid in seed methanol extract were found as quite high when compared to other extracts. The highest protective effects were seen at 10 and 50μg/ml concentrations of seed methanol extract. The optimum doses of fruit, flower, and seed extracts obtained from H. perforatum neutralized the genotoxic effect. This effect is stronger in seed methanol extract than other extracts. We suggest that more research is needed to evaluate the effects of H. perforatum phytochemicals in vitro and in vivo.