Comparing the antioxidative effects of Vaccinium myrtillus - Cinnamomum tea and Melissa officinalis - Cinnamomum Tea on the oxidative stress in petrochemical workers

This study was carried out to compare the antioxidative effects of Melissa officinalis - Cinnamomum tea and Vaccinium myrtillus - Cinnamomum tea.

This is a clinical trial performed on 50 petrochemical workers who were exposed to mercury. They were randomly divided into two groups of 25. After taking written informed consents, 5 ml venous blood was collected from each worker and its indicators of oxidative stress were measured. Then, the first group used 100 ml Vaccinium myrtillus - Cinnamon tea for thirty days and the second group were given 100 ml Melissa officinalis - Cinnamon tea for thirty days. At the end of the intervention, five ml venous blood was collected from both groups again and their oxidative stress parameters were measured and compared. To analyze data, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed.

DNA damage and plasma lipid peroxidation in both groups showed significant differences (p=0.001, p=0.042). The antioxidant effects of Vaccinium myrtillus – Cinnamon tea on DNA damage (163.36±58.13) and plasma lipid proxidation (134.46±12.69) were higher than those of Melissa officinalis – Cinnamon tea (352.05±70.95, 138.40±16.39).

After consuming Vaccinium myrtillus - Cinnamomum tea, antioxidative and genoprotective effects in workers exposed to toxic effects of mercury was obtained.