Genotoxic and Antigenotoxic Activities of Thai Bee Pollen and Its Extracts in Human Lymphocytes by in Vitro Sister Chromatid Exchange Assay

Bee pollen has been used as a food supplement and as a traditional medicine for thousands of years. Our study demonstrated that by in vitro sister chromatid exchange assay, Mimosa pudica crude bee pollen extract (0.005-5.0 μg/mL CE) from Chiangmai, Northern Thailand, increased genotoxicity in human lymphocytes at concentrations of 0.005 and 0.5 μg/mL by 20% and 24% respectively, compared to the RPMI control. Its defatted extract (DE) at 0.005-5.0 μg/mL increased the activities by 24–32% whereas the lipid extract (LE) at 0.00125 μg/mL but not at 0.0125–1.25 μg/mL increased the activities by 25%. Only CE at 5.0 μg/mL induced cytotoxicity. Pretreatments of CE, DE, and LE at 0.5, 5, and 0.00125 μg/mL induced antigenotoxicities against doxorubicin, a potent genotoxic chemotherapeutic agent by 24%, 28%, and 16%, respectively. Their protective mechanisms are feasibly involved with α-tocopherol and phenolic contents such as gallic acid and ferulic acid.