title: Protection against radiation induced damage to spermatogenesis by Podophyllum hexandrum.
abstract: Aqueous extract of rhizome of Podophyllum hexandrum (RP-1) has been found to render protection against lethal whole body irradiation (10 Gy), damage to haemopoietic and gastrointestinal tissue etc. in mice. In order to assess its suitability from clinical point of view its effects were investigated on male germinal tissue in mice. Swiss albino strain 'A' male mice (10-12 weeks) were exposed to varied radiation doses (0.5, 2.0, 5.0 and 10 Gy) with and without 200 mg/kg b.w. of RP-1 and sacrificed at different time periods (10, 35 and 70 days) to collect the tissue. Administration of RP-1, 2 h before irradiation rendered a significant increase in the testis weight, repopulating tubules, resting primary spermatocytes, stem cell survival index, sperm counts and reduction in abnormalities of sperm morphology, at all the time periods studied here. RP-1 treatment alone did not generate any adverse effects. These results reveal that RP-1, if put to clinical application, will not be harmful to the testicular system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Biology, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, INMAS, 110 054, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Namita
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Samanta
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Goel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011035:Podophyllum; D027343:Rhizome; D013076:Sperm Count / Q000379:methods; D013091:Spermatogenesis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013737:Testis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts