Cytogenetic and biochemical competency of chamomile essential oil against γ-rays induced mutagenic effects in mice

Background: chamomile essential oil (ceo) hauls out from matricaria chamomillal., is a well-known anti-oxidant. oxidative stress induces clastogenic andbiochemical disorders a er γ-irradiation of animals. materials and methods:mice were divided into five groups. control group received vehicle only.ceo-treated group received ceo. irradiated group received vehicle and exposed toγ-rays. pre-treated group received ceo .h before γ-rays exposure. post-treatedgroup received ceo . hour a er γ-rays exposure. peripheral-blood micronucleus(pmn), bone-marrow micronucleus (bmn), frequency of chromosomalaberrations (cas), reduced glutathione (gsh), malondialdehyde (mda),superoxide dismutase (sod), glutathione peroxidase (pgx) andmyeloperoxidase (mpo), lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) and tumor necrosisfactor-α (tnf-α) parameters were assessed. results: in irradiated mice group,pmn score, bmn occurrence and cas were increased when compared withcontrol mice group. in addition, significant increases in levels of liver lipidperoxidation (lp); expressed as mda and tnf-α. in addition, activities of livermpo and ldh were found. besides, significant decreases in content of gsh,activities of sod and pgx in liver tissues were recognized. ceo treatment (1.0g/kg body weight) before- and a er-irradiation ameliorated all thesebiochemical indices, as well as cytogenetic alterations induced by γ-rays whencompared with irradiated group, indicating that pre- or post-treatment withceo significantly a:enuates the acute hazards caused by γ-rays exposure.conclusion: the data suggest that ceo possesses a radioprotective potentialagainst γ-radiation induced cytogenetic and biochemical damages in mice.