Rosmarinic acid (RA) is a naturally occurring phenolic compound, which contributes to the beneficial and health-promoting effects of herbs, spices and medicinal plants. RA has shown several biological activities, such as hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antiangiogenic, antitumor, antidepressant, antineurodegenerative, HIV-1 inhibitory and antioxidant effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of RA to prevent chemically induced chromosome breakage or loss and primary DNA damage using the micronucleus and comet assays with V79 cells, respectively. The chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (DXR; 0.5 microg ml(-1)) was used as the DNA-damaging agent. The cultures were treated with different concentrations of RA (0.28, 0.56 and 1.12 mm) alone or in combination with DXR. The results showed that RA exerted no genotoxic effect, but significantly reduced the frequency of micronuclei and the extent of DNA damage induced by DXR at the three concentrations tested. The antioxidant activity of RA might be involved in the reduction of DXR-induced DNA damage observed in the present study.
(c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.