EFFECT OF BITTER MELON AGAINST CISPLATIN AND VALPROIC ACID-INDUCED GENOTOXICITY IN Drosophila melanogaster Meigen

In human body, which is exposed to number of chemicals and physical agents in daily life, malfunctions may occur from time to time in detoxification mechanisms that will prevent the harmful effects of genotoxic agents, whose negative effects cannot be eliminated. In this study, the genoprotective effects of bitter melon (Momordica charantia L.) seed and fruit extracts against the genotoxic potential of the antineoplastic agent cisplatin and the antiepileptic drug valproic acid in 72 +/- 4 hours old transheterozygous larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Meigen were determined by the Somatic Mutation and Recombination Test (SMART). The results showed that the mutation frequencies approached the negative control values by inhibiting the formation of chemical agent-induced mutant clones in all doses in the experimental groups in which plant extracts were applied at doses of 1.25, 2.5 ve 5 mg/mL, while the mutation frequency increased only in the groups that applied cisplatin and valproic acid. These results show that co-administration of cisplatin and valproic acid reduces the genotoxic effect of M. charantia.