Study of genotoxicity and oxidative stress of medicinal plants in mountain territories of the Chechen Republic

Biologically active substances (BAS) contained in medicinal plants are used in the manufacture of medicines, and, accordingly, have certain properties, such as, for example, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory effect, bacteriostatic, bactericidal, the ability to increase the body’s resistance to genotoxicants, etc. Infusions of medicinal plants Oregano (Origanum vulgare) and Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), selected in their places of growth: in the mountains of Nozhai-Yurtovsky (1090 m above sea level) and Shatoisky (1200 m above sea level) areas of the Chechen Republic, traditionally used for medicinal purposes, were studied for the induction of oxidative stress on strains of luminescent bacteria E. coli. Artificially created Escherichia coli MG1655 biosensor strains containing specially designed plasmids of the pBR322 variant carrying the Photorhabdus luminescens bacterium luxCDABE operon placed under an inducible promoter activated only when certain chemical agents appear in the medium were used in the work. E. coli strains with hybrid plasmids: pSoxS-lux or pKatG-lux were used for detection of substances causingoxidative stress in cells, and with hybrid plasmids: pColD-lux or pRecA-lux for detection ofgenotoxic substances. It was found that the studied medicinal infusions can have a synergistic effect in combination with the genotoxic drug dioxidine and the oxidant hydrogen peroxide. At the same time, they can act both as an antioxidant and as an antigenotoxicant, depending on the concentration. The concentrations of infusions of Origanum vulgare and Chelidonium majus at the concentration of Greater Celandine - 6 g (CN2) and 3 g (CN3) caused oxidative stress. All other concentrations of Origanum vulgaris and Celandine greater on all bioluminescent strains of E. coli had a slight bactericidal effect. Further studies of biologically active substances of medicinal plants will make it possible to propose them as a protective barrier to the genotoxic, mutagenic or toxic effects of various environmental pollutants.