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ORAL PRESENTATION / SÖZLÜ SUNUM

Evaluation of the Genotoxicity Potential of Verbena officinalis L. Extract on
Drosophila melanogaster by Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART)

Yigit GUNES¹ * Selenay UREY Ece GOZUPERK Nurcin YILMAZ
,
2
1
1
Ceren ANLAS Oya USTUNER Tulay BAKIREL
1
1
1

¹Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pharmacology
and Toxicology, Istanbul, TÜRKIYE
2 Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Istanbul, TÜRKIYE

*Correspound Author: yigit.gunes@iuc.edu.tr

Medicinal plants, due to their biodiversity, economic and sustainable use, are preferred as
alternatives to conventional drugs in the treatment of many diseases in traditional medicine.
Despite the beneficial effects of medicinal plants, maintaining the balance between therapeutic
and toxicological effects is considered the most important factor for safe treatment. Recent
studies have revealed that many plant species used in traditional medicine for the treatment of
various diseases may have toxicity potential due to their cytotoxic/genotoxic active ingredients.
This has increased the importance of toxicological evaluation of herbal extracts, which are
believed to have low toxicity based on long-term use.
Verbena officinalis L. (vervain; family: Verbenaceae) is a medicinal plant widely grown in
the Mediterranean region and is currently used in folk medicine, particularly for the treatment of
anxiety, insomnia, and depression. In traditional medicine, it is also used for reproductive and
gynecological problems, as well as for stimulating uterine smooth muscle during pregnancy,
increasing milk secretion, and treating digestive problems such as chronic prostatitis, hematuria,
spasms, and stomach pain. In addition to its traditional uses, scientific studies have confirmed
the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal activities of V. officinalis. Despite its
widespread use in traditional medicine, studies on the toxicity potential of V. officinalis extracts
are quite limited. In this study, the genotoxic potential of a water extract from V. officinalis was
investigated in Drosophila melanogaster, an important model organism in genetic research.
In this study, the genotoxic effect of V. officinalis was investigated using the Somatic
Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART). The study used multiple wing hair (mwh) and flare
(flr³) mutant strains of D. melanogaster, and clone induction frequency (CIF) values were used to
evaluate the results. When the data obtained from the SMART test were evaluated, the clone
induction frequency was 0.51 in the negative control group, 0.46 in the 15 mg/ml concentration
group, 1.02 in the 30 mg/ml concentration group, and 1.43 in the 60 mg/ml concentration
group. This increase in clone induction frequency suggests that V. officinalis, especially at high
concentrations, can induce somatic mutations and lead to genotoxic effects. Consequently, the
obtained data have the potential to contribute to the assessment of the safety of V. officinalis.
Furthermore, adapting the SMART test to herbal extracts may be beneficial in examining the
safety profiles of different herbal products.
Keywords: Drosophila melanogaster, Model organism, Genotoxicity, Somatic mutation, Verbena
officinalis L.

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