Inhibition by quercetin and luteolin of chromosomal alterations induced by salted, deep-fried fish and mutton in rats

Previous studies from our laboratory have shown the clastogenic effects of long-term feeding on deep-fried fish and mutton in rat bone marrow cells. We report the chemopreventive action of two flavanoids, quercetin (Qn) and luteolin (Ln) against the induced mutagenicity by fish and mutton extracts. Groups of rats were treated with flavanoids through pre-simultaneous- and post-treatment regimens and killed at the end of treatment. The bone marrow was removed and analysed for the presence of micronuclei (MN) and chromosome aberrations (CA). Pre-treatment showed most effectively a good inhibition of mutagenicity at every dose tested. Luteolin was a better protective agent than quercetin. It protected the cells against genetic damage to 93% in the micronucleus assay and to 95% in the chromosome aberrations induced by fish extract (p < 0.001 in both the groups). Mutton extract-induced micronuclei and chromosome aberrations were protected 85% and 90%, respectively, by luteolin and 79% and 76%, respectively, by quercetin. Our results tend to suggest that quercetin and luteolin are potential chemopreventive compounds.