Assessment of Toxicity of Myristicin and 1’-Hydroxymyristicin in HepG2 Cell Line

Background and Objective: Myristicin belongs to a class of potentially toxic chemicals (alkoxy substituted allylbenzenes) and despite the structural analogy with safrole, data on this compound are very controversial and unclear. In this study assessed the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of myristicin and 1’-hydroxy-myristicin after 24 h of exposure in HepG2 cells. Methodology: The compounds were tested up to 600 μM concentration, for 24 h. The genotoxicity was assessed with alkaline and neutral comet assay and micronucleus assay. The data were analysed by one-way ANOVA. Results: It is to be emphasized that only the synthetic Phase 1 metabolite (1’-hydroxymyristicin) showed a genotoxic effect starting from the concentration of 150 μM both in comet and micronucleus tests. However, it is important to point out that the same concentration cause a statistically significant (p<0.001) apoptotic process. Conclusion: The consumption of a traditional diet determines very low levels of exposure to the parent myristicin. This fact implies as the primary metabolic pathway the O-demethylation (5-allyl-2,3-dihidroxyanisole) and not to Phase I metabolism, which leads to the conclusion that this substance could not present a significant risk to humans.