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Suppression of the Formation of Sister Chromatid Exchanges by Low Concentrations of Ginsenoside Rh₂ in Human Blood Lymphocytes¹

Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Osaka University School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565 [J. H. Z., T. T., K. M.], and Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Osaka University, 1-6 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan [I. K.]

To assess the antimutagenic potentials of ginsenoside Rh₂ (Rh₂), its effects on the baseline and mitomycin C-induced sister chromatid exchange (SCE) were examined in human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs). The SCE frequency in PBLs treated with various concentrations of Rh₂ for 72 h was decreased in a dose-dependent manner and was significantly lower than the baseline levels at 1.0 x 10^-10 M and 1.0 x 10^-7 M. The SCE frequency in PBLs treated with both Rh₂ and mitomycin C was significantly (P < 0.001) less than that in PBLs treated with only mitomycin C. Cell cycle kinetics, as indicated by the proliferation and mitotic indices, was not significantly affected by Rh₂ of various concentrations in the PBLs throughout the present experiments. This is the first report which showed convincingly a reduction of SCE in normal human cells. The mechanism remains to be elucidated in future studies.

¹ This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan and by a Grant-in-Aid for cancer research from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed.

Received 12/16/94. Accepted 2/ 2/95.

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