Carboplatin is amongst the most commonly used anticancer drugs for the management of several human malignancies. However, it has displayed genotoxic properties against normal cells. Evaluation of natural products for their protective effects against chemotherapeutic drug induced toxicity has been growing in recent years. A naturally occurring flavonoid, chrysin, has strong antioxidant abilities and protects against DNA impairment. This study used multiple assays to evaluate the levels of damage to DNA in normal cells and to examine any possible protective role of chrysin against such damage. Male BALB/c mice were administered chrysin orally in two doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg for 10 consecutive days and then a single injection of carboplatin [90 mg/kg body weight (b.w.)] was administered intraperitoneally to induce carboplatin toxicity. 24 h after the carboplatin injection, mice were sacrificed. DNA damage was evaluated using several genotoxicity tests (8-Hydroxydeoxy-guanosine marker, comet assay, micronucleus test, and chromosomal aberration assay) to identify diverse types of damage to the DNA. The results suggest that pretreatment with chrysin significantly decreased the level of DNA damage caused by carboplatin probably due to its potent antioxidant traits. Therefore, chrysin can be considered to be developed as a chemoprotective agent against chemotherapy associated side-effects.
Keywords: DNA damage; chemoprotective agent; comet assay; genotoxicity; micronucleus test.