National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692 Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Pesticides are ubiquitous contaminants of our environment and are extensively used all over the world. Malathion is an organophosphate pesticide used to fight against insects in the crop fields. Besides providing protection against insects it also has harmful effects on humans. Its toxicity has been associated with the inhibition of acetyl cholinesterase activity, leading to the interference with the transmission of nerve impulse, accumulation of acetylcholine at synaptic junctions, and subsequent induction of adverse health effects. Keeping in mind the adverse effects of malathion, we therefore studied the protective effect of Ocimum sanctum extract against the malathion induced DNA damage using comet assay as a biomarker of genotoxicity. To observe the protective effect of Ocimum sanctum extract, heparinised fresh blood from healthy individuals was treated with 30 µg/ml of malathion in presence of ocimum extract. Ocimum extract at the concentration of 40 µg/ml and 70 µg/ml had significantly reduced (p<0.05) the tail moment (TM) as compared to malathion exposed sample. Hence, our findings suggest that Ocimum sanctum extract has protective effect against DNA damage induced by malathion in cultured human peripheral blood lymphocytes.
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