Abstract

Natural products are generally considered as safe and reliable, whereas they could represent a real danger for public health. Indeed, many herbs are either directly reactive towards DNA or likely to disturb cellular homoeostasis, cell cycle and/or genome maintenance mechanisms. Genotoxicity refers to the deleterious effect of a chemical compound or a physical event on the genetic material. Such genotoxic events are considered hallmarks of cancer risk. In this technical note, discussions are held about manipulations involving the use of γ-H2AX as biomarker of genotoxicity through assessment of two medicinal plants involved in aristolochic acid nephropathy patients in Belgium: Aristolochia species and bark of Magnolia officinalis. γ-H2AX is increasingly considered as an attractive biomarker for either DNA damage or DNA repair. Moreover, the detection of γ-H2AX can potentially serve as a biomarker for transformation of normal tissue to malignant tissues in many cancers.

Keywords: Aristolochia; Magnolia; Genotoxicity; Apoptosis; Γ-H2AX histone; Aristolochic acids