Assessment of the Genotoxic Activity of Α-asarone and Its Derivatives in the Comet Assay

In our previous paper we examined mutagenic and genotoxic activity of 4 α-asarone isomers 2-5 exhibiting relatively high hypolipidemic activity. In the present paper, we examined genotoxic activity of αasarone and its isomers as the ability to damage cellular DNA, evaluated in the comet assay. Additionally, mutagenic activity of α-asarone in Ames test has been examined. The Ames test for α-asarone was carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the PN-EN ISO 10993-3 standard. Compounds 4 and 5 were found to be devoid of any genotoxic activity while maintaining their hypolipemic potential. Because mutagenic activity of compound 4 was also minor it could be considered as a candidate for further pharmacological evaluation. Genotoxic but not mutagenic activity of α-asarone has been confirmed.