Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi) induced Autophagy Inhibit Benzo[a]pyrene mediated cytotoxicity

Abstract

Particulate matters like PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) are one of the most common and dangerous air pollutants which severely affect the organisms. Among all types of PAHs, Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) has been found to be more toxic to the organism as well as the environment. Several evidences have suggested the cytotoxic effect of B[a]P. The sole objective of this study was to examine the cytoprotective role of the Bacopa monnieri (BM) against B[a]P induced cytotoxicity and to reveal the detailed mechanism under this protection. This study has showed the protective action of BM against the toxicity induced by B[a]P treated in HaCaT cell line through the cell survival assay. The morphology of B[a]P, BM and both B[a]P+BM treated cells were observed under bright field microscope and demonstrated that BM could thwart the induction of apoptosis by B[a]P. Caspase activity of B[a]P was also studied by caspase-Glo 3/7 assay reporting the high apoptotic capacity of B[a]P. More over to disclose the mechanism behind the protective action of BM, acridine orange staining was done showing the autophagy induction by BM. To become more assure about the autophagy induction by BM, an autophagy inhibitor known as Chloroquine (CQ) was treated in the cells which reflected that CQ had decreased the autophagy induction by BM in presence of B[a]P increasing cell death than BM . B[a]P treated cells only . Thus this study confirmed that BM can defend HaCaT cells from B[a]P through inducing autophagy which could have a curative application in the anticipation of B[a]P