SUMMARY Kombucha is a refreshing beverage obtained by the fermentation of sweetened black tea with a "tea fungus" (symbiotic cul- ture of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts). It is consumed due to its potential beneficial effects on human health. The aim of this study was to investigate activity of Kombucha on human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro. We analyzed Kombucha made from different substrates: Camellia sinensis and Satureja montana, and effects of substrates alone. The frequencies of sister chromatid exchange (SCE) and micronuclei (MN) were scored as genetic endpoints and mitomycin C was used as model mutagen. Kombucha from Camellia sinensis and Camellia sinensis substrate increased frequency of MN and SCE on mitomycin C-treated and -untreated peripheral blood lymphocytes. However, Kombucha from Satureja montana reduced incidence of MN on mitomycin C-treated and -untreated peripheral blood lymphocytes, while SCE frequency was higher than control value. In our pilot study we showed for the first time that Kombucha from different substrates induced different effects on mitomycin C-treated and -untreated peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Cell culture K562 samples were treated with fullerenol (C6o(OH)24) at a concentration of 10 nmol/mL and thereafter irradiated with X-rays (24Gy). The activity of gamma-glutamyltransfrease (γ-GT), total superoxide-dismutase (SOD) and glutathion-peroxidase (GSH-Px) was determined 1, 24 and 48 hours after irradiation. Irradiation induces an increase in the activity of all the investigated enzymes. Fullerenol in the applied dose decreased the γ-GT activity 24 and 48 h after irradiation. The total SOD activity is increased in both pretreated groups except in the irradiated group at the 48th hour. Treatment with fullerenol before irradiation increased GSH-Px activity in irradiated groups and decreased it in the control groups.

DET (dye exclusion test) cell count and cell area by computer analysis of the images were determined in cell lines of human eritroleukemia (K562), which were irradiated with X-rays in one dose of 24 Gy and pretreated with 10 nmol/mL fullerenol (Cgo(OH)24). Cell samples obtained using a citocentrifuge and May-Grunvald Giemsi (MGG) during, were analyzed. The cell colony formation ability was monitored using quantative CFU (colony forming unit) test. Irradiation decreases the number of K562 cells, but fullerenol significantly increases cell number on 24th and 48th hour of the experiment. Cell area is larger, and the number of formed cell colonies after irradiation is significantly smaller compared to pretreated groups during the whole experiment. Pretreatment with fullerenol maintains a smaller cell area, and the number of colony formed units was larger compared to the irradiated cells.