Antimutagenicity of β- caryophyllene in Ames test and micronucleus assay on cultured human lymphocytes

Chemoprevention by components of natural products has aroused lively interest in last years. Among natural substances, terpenoids seem to be potentially useful in prevention and treatment of several diseases, cancer included. β-Caryophyllene (β-CRY) is a sesquiterpene contained in several essential oils as those from Eugenia caryophyllata, Salvia spp., Lavandula angustifolia L., Piper nigrum L. and copaiba balsam (Copaifera reticulata Ducke); it is known to possess anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties. In this work, β-CRY has been evaluated for its potential antimutagenic activity against the genotoxicity induced by known mutagenic agents. The experiments were carried out by using two in vitro tests: 1. the Ames test on Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100 strains and on Escherichia coli WP2uvrA strain, with and without the extrinsic metabolic activation system; 2. the micronucleus assay (MN) on cultured human lymphocytes. Data obtained showed a strong antimutagenic activity of beta-caryophyllene in both assays and encourage further studies to investigate the potential role of this substance as chemopreventive agent.