Protective Effects of Natural Products and Their Derivatives on Genetic Material: A Critical Review

Özet

Although treatment with natural products and the substances derived from them has gained much attention,it is important to know the genomic safety of these substances prior to their use in humans. The present review aims topresent the current knowledge on the genoprotective effects and possible mechanism of actions of natural compounds.Therefore, an up-to-date search was conducted using known databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, andClinicaltrials.gov. For the investigation of genotoxic/genoprotective activity of these substances, comet or micronucleusassay were frequently used models applied through eukaryotic test systems, bacterial strains, cultured animal cells ortissues (e.g., mice, rats) but also human by using oxidizing or carcinogenic agent-induced DNA damage capacity.Findings suggest that several extracts, including those from medicinal plants, marine algae or their preparations,antioxidants such as quercetin, retinoids, resveratrol, hyaluronic acid, carnosol, rosmarinic acid, and naringin haveshown genoprotective effects in various test systems. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mitogenic, reduction of DNAstrand breaks and DNA lesions, formation of micronucleus, and chromosomal aberrations were the observedmechanisms of action of genoprotective substances. In conclusion, this review highlights the importance of naturalproducts, especially dietary antioxidants, which can be safely used for the treatment of various diseases.