title: Antimutagenicity of Japanese traditional herbs, gennoshoko, yomogi, senburi and iwa-tobacco.
abstract: The multistage induction theory is generally regarded as the mechanism of carcinogenesis. In order to prevent the initiation stage of carcinogenesis, it is meaningful to discover the functional components of edible plants. The objective of this research was to test the antimutagenicity of the functional components of several typical traditional herbs used in Japan. The traditional herbs, gennoshoko (Geranium nepalense var. thunbergii), yomogi (Artemisia vulgaris var. indica), senburi (Swertia japonica), iwa-tobacco (Conandron ramondioides), sarunokoshikake (Elfvingia applanata), kanzo (Glycyeehiza uralensis Fisch) and matatabi (Actinidia polygama) were examined by Ames mutagenesis assay test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 against mutagens, Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2 and B(a)P. The water-soluble components or volatile oil of the herbs were extracted in boiling water. The extracts of gennoshoko showed strong antimutagenicity against B(a)P with S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100, as well as Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2 with S. typhimurium TA98. Yomogi, senburi and iwa-tobacco were also proved to have good antimutagenicity against Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2 with S. typhimurium TA98, but weaker antimutagenicity against B(a)P. Other herbs did not show any obvious antimutagenicity against these mutagens. In addition, the volatile oil of yomogi also had remarkable antimutagenic effect against the mutagens we used with S. typhimurium TA98.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Science, School of Humanities for Environmental Policy and Technology, Himeji Institute of Technology, Himeji, 670-0092, Japan. hiramats@shse.u-hyogo.ac.jp
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiufen
authors.forename: Ryusuke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takechi
authors.forename: Yoshimi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mamo
authors.forename: Sebely
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pal
mesh_terms: D016587:Antimutagenic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020077:Endogenous Retroviruses / Q000737:chemistry*; D007564:Japan; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010945:Plants, Edible; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects*; D014026:Nicotiana
chemical_list: D016587:Antimutagenic Agents