Protective Role of Olea europaea L. Leaf Extract Against Deltamethrin Induced Genotoxic Effects: Allium cepa L. Model

In this research, the potential protective effect of Olea europaea L. (olive) leaf extract (OE) against the genotoxic effects of deltamethrin, a widely used insecticide, on Allium cepa L. root cells was revealed. Allium root tip cells assay were used to determine this effect. Deltamethrin (DM) treatments generally showed a significant decrease in mitotic index (MI) values (DM 2x group 48 hrs treatment about 96%) and a significant increase in chromosomal abnormality rates (DM 2x group 48 hrs treatment about 8 times) compared to the control group. OE treatments were observed to reduce abnormality rates (OE 2.0g/L 24 h treatment resulted in approximately 32% reduction) while keeping MI close to the control level (OE 0.5g 24 hrs treatment resulted in approximately 15% reduction). The most remarkable improvement was recorded in the DM 1x+OE 2.0g/L 48 hrs group. MI value was 7.33±0.4 and abnormality rate was 4.3±0.4, showing a significant improvement compared to the Deltamethrin-only groups. These results support the notion that OE extract as a herbal bioactive agent may have potential protective effect against insecticide-induced genotoxicity.