ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 2002
Available online at http://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajmr
© 2002 International Scholars Journals
Monoterpenes reduced adducts formation in rats exposed to aflatoxin B1
J. Abiodun Elegbede1* and Michael N. Gould2
1UNLV Cancer Institute/Chemistry Department, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4003
2McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI 53706-1599
Accepted 13 November 2002
Abstract
Perillyl alcohol and d-limonene are naturally occurring plant compounds that exhibited anti-carcinogenic activities in mammary tumor models. The effects of these monoterpenes at the initiation stage of aflatoxin B1-induced hepatocarcinogenesis were investigated. Male F344 rats were fed Control or treatment diets throughout the study and exposed to aflatoxin for 5 days. Three days after the last aflatoxin dose, blood and liver samples were obtained. Analysis of liver samples showed that both limonene and perillyl alcohol significantly inhibited (p<0.05) aflatoxin-DNA adducts formation in hepatocytes. The monoterpenes may have potential for use as chemopreventive agent against aflatoxin-induced liver cancer.
Keywords: Aflatoxin B1, hepatocarcinogenesis, monoterpenes, chemoprevention.