Modulatory role of alizarin from Rubia cordifolia L. against genotoxicity of mutagens.

Rubia cordifolia L. (Rubiaceae) is an important medicinal plant used in the Ayurvedic medicinal system. Its use as a traditional therapeutic has been related to the treatment of skin disorders and cancer. Besides its medicinal value, anthraquinones from this plant are used as natural food colourants and as natural hair dyes. Dyes derived from natural sources have emerged as important alternatives to synthetic dyes. Alizarin (1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone) was isolated and characterized from R. cordifolia L. and evaluated for its antigenotoxic potential against a battery of mutagens viz. 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPD) and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) in Ames assay using TA98 tester strain of Salmonella typhimurium; hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO) in SOS chromotest using PQ37 strain of Escherichia coli and in Comet assay using human blood lymphocytes. Our results showed that alizarin possessed significant modulatory role against the genotoxicity of mutagens.