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The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the effect of curcumin as a natural compound against radiation induced γ-foci and stable chromosome aberrations. Whole blood samples form three human volunteers were pretreated with curcumin at different concentrations (0.5, 10, 20 and 100 μg/ml). After 1-hour incubation, the lymphocytes were exposed to γ-rays (0.05, 0.5, 1 and 2 Gy). Radiation induced changes in cells were quantified using γ-H2AX/53BP1 assay and FISH analysis. Our results have shown that curcumin significantly reduced the frequency of both γ-foci and translocations. We found concentration-dependent increase of curcumin protective effect on γ-H2AX/53BP1 foci formation at all radiation doses. Concerning the translocations, after 0.05 and 0.5 Gy γ-rays the values of genomic frequencies are comparable within each dose and we did not observe any impact of curcumin. The most protective effect after 1 Gy exposure was found at 100 μg/ml curcumin. At 2 Gy irradiation, the maximum protection was achieved at 0.5 and 10 μg/ml of curcumin. Concentrations of 20 and 100 μg/ml also prevent lymphocytes but to less extent. Our in vitro study indicates radioprotective efficacy of curcumin against γ-ray induced damages in human lymphocytes. This observation suggests that curcumin may play a role to protect patients undergoing radiological procedures.

Curcumin is a component of natural spice Curcuma longa. It is known that this polyphenol has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant and antibacterial activities. The mechanism of curcumin effectiveness on both healthy and cancer tissues is still unclear. Aims: In vitro assessment of curcumin effect on both double-strand breaks and chromosomal translocations frequency, after γ-irradiation. Methods: Human peripheral blood samples were pre-treated with different concentrations of curcumin (0.5 µg/ml; 10 µg/ml; 20 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml). Thereafter they were exposed to 60Co γ-rays using various irradiation doses (0.05 Gy; 0.5 Gy; 1 Gy and 2 Gy). Both γ H2AX/53BP1 foci assay and FISH analysis were used to evaluate DNA double-strand breaks and translocation frequencies. Results: Curcumin pre-treatment exhibited significant lower γ-H2AX/53BP1 foci appearance and reduced translocations frequency in irradiated compared to untreated lymphocytes. At 1 Gy irradiation and 10 µg/ml curcumin, the reduction of total translocations frequency was 42%. We found that at 2 Gy irradiation, the most protective concentration was 0.5 µg/ml curcumin. In this case, translocations declined almost twofold compared to curcumin non-treated cells. Conclusion: The present in vitro study demonstrates that curcumin reduces both γ-H2AX/53BP1 foci and translocations occurrence in peripheral blood lymphocytes, after γ-irradiation.