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Lemongrass - an anticlastogenic agent against arsenic

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Abstract

Cymbopogon citratus, commonly known as lemongrass - a herb in Asian cuisine, is well known for its medicinal properties since ancient period and have been reported in ancient Indian Ayurvedic Medicine for relieving cough and nasal congestion. Since the early 1980s, an alarming problem of groundwater arsenic (As) contamination has devastated eastern Indian regions. Arsenic is a known human carcinogen and an environmental pollutant known to cause adverse health effects such as liver injury, neurotoxicity, increase the risk of cancers of skin, lung, bladder and liver. DNA damage and genetic instability induced by the inorganic arsenicals present in water are thought to be prerequisites for the initiation of carcinogenesis. Many natural herbs, which are consumed through our daily diet, possess excellent cancer chemopreventive properties. The present study was conducted to examine the anticlastogenic action of lemongrass extract against the As-induced chromosomal aberrations. Our results demonstrate that lemongrass extract particularly Citral (60 mg/kg/b.w) is effective in counteracting the clastogenicity, of the most potent form of As, sodium arsenite in mice. These results suggest that the use of lemongrass in diet may give an effective protection against the health crisis generated by As.

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Acknowledgments

Puspal De acknowledges Institute of Genetic Engineering for funding and affiliation. We are also thankful to other laboratory members and other associated persons of IGE for their enthusiastic participation.

Competing Interests Statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Contributorship Statement

Dr. Madhumita J Mukhopadhyay helped in the preparation of manuscript with the discussion and data summary. Puspal De performed all the experiments, laboratory work and analysis. Dr. Amit Chakravarty provided the financial support. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data Sharing Statement

We cannot share any unpublished data with other laboratory or person.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Institute of Genetic Engineering, 30, Thakurhat Road, Kolkata, 700128, India

    Puspal De

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Institute of Genetic Engineering, 30, Thakurhat Road, Kolkata, 700128, India

    Madhumita J. Mukhopadhyay & Amit Chakravarty

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  1. Puspal De
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  2. Madhumita J. Mukhopadhyay
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  3. Amit Chakravarty
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Correspondence to Puspal De.

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De, P., Mukhopadhyay, M.J. & Chakravarty, A. Lemongrass - an anticlastogenic agent against arsenic. Nucleus 58, 125–129 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-015-0141-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-015-0141-4

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