Radioprotective potential of an herbal extract of Tinospora cordifolia.
A preparation of Tinospora cordifolia (RTc) administered i.p. (200 mg/kg b.w.) to strain "A" male mice 1 h before whole body gamma-irradiation was evaluated for its radioprotective efficacy in terms of whole body survival, spleen colony forming units (CFU), hematological parameters, cell cycle progression, and micronuclei induction. Preirradiation treatment with RTc rendered 76.3% survival (30 days), compared to 100% mortality in irradiated control and prevented radiation induced weight loss. On 10th postirradiation day, the endogenous CFU counts in spleen were decreased with increasing radiation doses 12.0 (5 Gy), 2.16 (7.5 Gy) and 0.33 (10 Gy) but pre-irradiation administration of 200 mg/kg b.w. of RTc increased CFU counts to 31.16, 21.83 and 3.00 respectively. Pre-irradiation RTc treatment could restore total lymphocyte counts (TLC) by the 15th day to normal. It also increased the S-phase cell population that was reduced following 2 Gy irradiation in a time dependent manner. 2 Gy irradiation-induced micronuclei were also decreased by a pre-irradiation administration of RTc from 2.9 to 0.52%. Because the radioprotective manifestation of RTc observed in several systems in experimental animals can be exploited for human applications.
Goel
Harish Chandra
HC
Department of Radiation Biology, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, India. radbiol@nds.vsnl.net.in
Prasad
Jagadish
J
Singh
Surinder
S
Sagar
Ravinder Kumar
RK
Agrawala
Paban Kumar
PK
Bala
Madhu
M
Sinha
Arun Kumar
AK
Dogra
Ruchi
R
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000633:toxicity; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011836:Radiation Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use* / Q000633:toxicity; D013534:Survival; D016019:Survival Analysis; D031610:Tinospora / Q000378:metabolism*
D006454:Hemoglobins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents