Antioxidant capacity of Nitraria retusa leaf extracts against mitomycin C-induced genetic toxicity in male mice

Abstract Background Recently, a great interest in the usage of new derived drugs extracted from plant has been increased to treat and/or prevent several diseases including cancer. Therefore, the present study was conducted to use Nitraria retusa leaf extract to increase the antioxidant activity and reduce the genotoxic activity of chemotherapeutic drugs mitomycin C (MMC) in male mice. Male Swiss albino mice (n = 80) were divided in several experimental groups and treated with single dose of MMC with supplementation of 50 and 100 mg/kg body wt Nitraria retusa leaf extract for several time intervals (3 days, 1 week, and 1 month). Results This study found that MMC-treated mice observed significant increases in the frequency of chromosomal abnormalities in both cell types including bone marrow and spermatocyte cells, induce the mean values of DNA damage, and decrease the expression values of antioxidant enzyme-related genes (CAT, GPx, and GSTT1) compared with control mice. However, supplementation of MMC-treated mice with Nitraria retusa leaf extract suppressed the harmful impacts induced by MMC especially with the high dose and longer duration of the administration. Conclusion The results suggested that the protective capacity of the Nitraria retusa leaf extract in protecting the hepatic cells could be attributed to the presence of isorhamnetin 3-o-robinobioside, palmitic acid, and β-sitosterols in its extract which are known for their anti-tumor and anti-mutagenic activities.