Evaluación de la citogenotoxicidad de una cerveza elaborada industrialmente y una cerveza de elaboración artesanal

Beer is a complex beverage, due to the extended variety of dissolved constituents which interact with each other and may change rapidly from the moment of exposure to the environment. Much has been said about the impact on human health on the consumption of beer; excessive intake can lead to health problems, on the contrary with the moderate intake can significantly reduce DNA damage. The importance of short-term tests for carcinogens and mutagens (micronucleus test) is feasible to be applied in risk analysis and quality control of commercial alcohol beverages. The objective of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic effects in vivo of two different types of beers using Vicia faba micronucleus test. Faba beans were used (Vicia faba var. minor) that were exposed for 24, 48, 72 and 120 hours to the chemical composition of a mass-produced beer and craft beer. The cytogenotoxic effect from the beers was evaluated in root meristematic cells. Cycloheximide (5 ug/ml), 3.6% ethanol (v/v) and 7.5% (v/v) were used as positive controls. Data were applied by analysis of variance with individual comparisons (Dunnett’s test) with a significance criterion of p < 0.05. The results allowed to establishing that treatments for the mitotic index and the frequency of micronuclei in meristematic cells had significant differences compared to the negative control. In conclusion, the chemical components of these alcoholic beverages and acetaldehyde derived from metabolized ethanol by the root neristematic cells of V. faba did not induce high frequencies of micronuclei, in other words, they were slightly genotoxic and mildly toxic by decreasing or increasing of cell division on root meristem cells of V. faba.