IN VITRO EFFECT OF Camellia sinensis EXTRACT IN HUMAN DNA LEUKOCYTES

Abstract

Beverages based on Camellia sinensis have been used for many centuries in traditional medicine, with the infusion being prepared with its leaves. One of the widely consumed products of C. sinensis is green tea, its benefits being associated with its chemical composition. For this reason the objective of this work was to evaluate the possible genotoxic activity of the green tea extract through the evaluation of DNA damage by the Comet Assay. In this way, an in vitro assay was performed from leukocytes isolated from peripheral blood of healthy subjects. The isolated leukocytes were treated with different concentrations of C. sinensis extract, after which the DNA damage was evaluated by the Comet Assay. The results obtained show that the concentration of C. sinensis was similar to that of the control, with no significant difference in the DNA damage index at the concentrations 3μg/mL, 10μg/mL, 30μg/mL, 100μg/mL and 300μg/mL, which show that at the concentrations used the extract had no present genotoxic effect. The use of green tea in the diet can have many benefits for the organism, mainly for its bioactive compounds, therefore, studies are necessary to evaluate its toxicity, to better evaluate the safety in its use.