In vitro testing of estragole in hepg2 cells: Cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay and cell-cycle analysis

The alkenylbenzene estragole (systematic name, 1-allyl-4-methoxybenzene) is a natural component of essential oils
from various spices and herbs, including fennel, and it is used as a food and beverage fl avouring agent. Estragole has
been reported to be hepatocarcinogenic at high doses in rodents. However, in a previous in vitro study, we found that
estragole did not exhibit cytotoxic effects after 4 hours of exposure, nor did it induce DNA damage or apoptosis in
human HepG2 hepatoblastoma cells. As fennel tea is widely used for symptomatic treatment of spasmodic
gastrointestinal conditions in infants, we aimed at further assessing its safety in a different experimental setting. We
thus searched for possible cytogenetic effects and interference with cell-cycle progression in the same human
hepatoblastoma cell line. Estragole did not show any clastogenic/aneugenic activities in the cytokinesis-block
micronucleus assay, and no effects on cell-cycle checkpoints were observed.