Abstract
Antigenotoxic activity of allicin, one of the sulphur compounds of garlic (Allium sativum) which possesses antioxidant and thiol disulphide exchange activity, was studied against estradiol-17-induced genotoxic damage using chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) as parameters. Approximately 10, 20 and 40 mu M of estradiol-17 was tested for its genotoxic effect in the presence of metabolic activation and was found to be genotoxic at 20 and 40 mu M. Approximately 20 mu M of estradiol-17 was treated along with 5, 10 and 15 mu M of allicin, separately, in the presence of metabolic activation. Similar treatments were given with 40 mu M of estradiol-17. Treatments along with allicin result in the reduction of CAs and SCEs, suggesting its anti-genotoxic activity in human lymphocytes in vitro against estradiol-17-induced genotoxic damage.