ABSTRACT
Polyphenols are potent antioxidants that are particularly abundant in the Mediterranean diet, with olive oil being the main fat source. A number of investigations have reported that phenolic compounds found in dietary oils are antioxidants and could provide protective effects by inhibiting DNA oxidative damage. However, few studies have been published on the biological activity of vegetable oils, including their possible mutagenic/antimutagenic effects. The objective of the current study was to investigate the cytogenetic effects of multiple doses of four vegetable oils in rat bone marrow cells and to examine the possible antimutagenic effects of these oils in chromosomal damage induced by the antitumor drug cisplatin. These oils are consumed by humans and commonly used as drug vehicles. The rats received treatment with multiple doses of canola oil, olive oil, virgin olive oil, and corn oil (5 mL kg-1) alone or combined with the antitumor drug cisplatin (5 mg kg-1). Treatments with vegetable oils alone did not increase the percentage of cells with chromosomal aberrations (p > 0.05). Olive, virgin olive and canola oils showed protective effects against cisplatin-induced chromosomal damage (p < 0.05). A rational mechanism for the protective effects of vegetable oils is that their phenolic compounds have antioxidant and antimutagenic properties in vivo.