Analysis of the Genotoxic Activity of Soya Saponin

Objective To evaluate the genotoxic activity of soya saponin(SS)using single cell gel electrophoresis(SCGE)and chromosome aberration assay.Methods Human gastric epithelial cells were used in this study.H2O2 was used as a clastogen in SCGE analysis.The cells were treated with H2O2(100 μmol/L)and various concentrations of SS(20?100?500?2 000 μg/ml).Mitomycin C(MMC;0.05 μg/ml)was used as a mutagen in the chromosome aberration assay of cultured human lymphocytes.Results For the SCEG,increasing in the concentration of SS resulted in a remarkably decreased(P0.01)in the ratios of integrated optical density in tail to integrated optical density of the cell.The tail length was also significantly reduced(P0.05).In the chromosome aberration assay,SS(500?2 000 μg/ml)was found to reduce both the cell aberration rates and total chromosome aberration rates(P0.01,P0.05).The effect was not seen at a lower dose of SS.Conclusion Anti-mutagenic effect of SS was demonstrated in these two different in vitro genotoxicity assays.SS may further be developed as a chemopreventive drug.