RESEARCH ARTICLE Genoprotection and Cytotoxicity of Cassia surattensis Seed Extract on Vero Cell Evaluated by Comet and Cytotoxicity Assays U. Seeta Uthaya Kumar 1 • Subramanion L. Jothy 1 • Nowroji Kavitha 1 • Yeng Chen 2 • Jagat R. Kanwar 3 • Sreenivasan Sasidharan 1 Received: 9 January 2016 / Revised: 2 May 2016 / Accepted: 21 June 2016 Ó The National Academy of Sciences, India 2016 Abstract Cassia (C.) surattensis Burm. f. (Leguminosae) is a flowering plant that has been traditionally used in many countries for food and medicinal purposes. The present study was conducted to determine in vitro cytotoxicity and anti-genotoxic activity of the seed extract of C. surattensis. The cytotoxic and anti-genotoxic activities were evaluated against Vero cell line using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and comet assays. In vitro cytotoxicity evaluation demonstrated that seed extract of C. surattensis was non-cytotoxic against the Vero cells. The 50 % cytotoxic concentration (CC 50 ) value from MTT cytotoxicity assay was 332.87 lg/ml. The seed extract of C. surattensis exhibited strong inhibitory effects against H 2 O 2 -mediated DNA damage in Vero cells as observed in Comet assay. The presence of antioxidant activity in the seed extract was associated with the antigenotoxic property of C. surattensis. In summary, the present study demonstrated an efficient antigenotoxic property of C. surattensis, which is significant for future investigation for human applications. Keywords Antigenotoxic  Cytotoxicity  Vero cells  Comet assay  Medicinal plants Introduction There is currently much interest in the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants as a therapeutic agent [1]. Medicinal plants are known as a good natural antioxidant because of their phytochemical properties such as vitamins {Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin A (carotenoids)}, flavonoids (flavones, isoflavones, flavonone, anthocyanins, catechins) and polyphenols (ellagic acid, Tannis, Gallic acid) [2]. The antioxidant properties of this phytochemical help to protect the cells against the damaging effects of free radicals, which initiate various diseases [3, 4] including genotoxic- ity. The use of natural products as genoprotective agents in daily life is the most valuable practice for preventing various genetic diseases. Genoprotective agent is the chemical agent that interferes with mutagen induced DNA damage to protect the cells/organisms from the harmful consequences of exposure to mutagens [5]. Cassia (C.) surattensis Burm. f. (Leguminosae) is one of the medicinal plants that is rich in medicinal values. The genus Cassia, well known for its diverse biological and pharmacological properties, comprises of about 600 spe- cies and is distributed worldwide [6]. C. surattensis belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is distributed throughout Malaysia. These flowering plants are widely grown as ornamental plants in tropical and subtropical areas. This plant species has been traditionally used in many countries as food products and for medicinal uses. No local uses have been known for C. surattensis but the bark and leaves are said to be antiblenorrhagic [7]. A property is also men- tioned for a decoction of the roots [8] which is commonly & Sreenivasan Sasidharan srisasidharan@yahoo.com 1 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 11800, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 2 Dental Research and Training Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral Cancer Research and Coordinating Centre (OCRCC), University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3 Nanomedicine-Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research (LIMBR), School of Medicine (SoM), Faculty of Health, Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, VIC 3217, Australia 123 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. DOI 10.1007/s40011-016-0761-8