title: Antimutagenic and anticancer activity of Darjeeling tea in multiple test systems.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Darjeeling tea, a most popular variety of black tea, though consumed by the people in different parts of world but its beneficial health effects have not been investigated in details. In this study, the antimutagenic and anticancer effect of Darjeeling tea extract (DTE) has been evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Antimutagenic activity of the DTE was carried out in two different strains of Salmonella typhimurium by AMES test against a known mutagen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) with S9 activation. Moreover, anticlastogenic property of DTE was also measured by micronuclei formation (MN) against B[a]P with S9 activation in human lymphocytes. The anticancer activity of the same was studied on U937 cell line. Here, Human PBMCs were used as the normal cell control to identify selective anticancer activity of the extract against U937 cells.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed significant antimutagenic activity on bacterial strains. A significant decrease in MN was also observed in the DTE treated human lymphocyte cultures pretreated with B[a]P when compared with B[a]P treated cultures alone. The study clearly exhibited anticancer activity of the extract on U937 cell line. Further studies also revealed that apoptosis induction is an important mechanism behind the anticancer effect of DTE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, this study indicates that DTE has significant antimutagenic and anticancer activities on bacterial and mammalian cells respectively.
authors.forename: Udayan
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: Shanta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adak
authors.forename: Niladri Shekhar
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.forename: Biswajit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bera
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Human Genetics Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4, Raja S, C, Mullick Road, Jadavpur, 700 032 Kolkata, India. akgiri15@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ashok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Giri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016587:Antimutagenic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity; D009154:Mutation / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D013662:Tea; D020298:U937 Cells
chemical_list: D016587:Antimutagenic Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009153:Mutagens; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013662:Tea