[Protective effects of puerarin on radiation injury of experimental rats].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the protective effects of puerarin on radiation injury of experimental rats and to discuss the possible mechanism of its radiation protection.


METHODS
Wistar rats were divided randomly into 4 groups with 8 rats in each group: physiological saline non-radiation (SN) group, puerarin non-radiation (PN) group, physiological saline radiation (SR) group, puerarin radiation (PR) group. The source of radiation was cobalt-60 gamma rays, and the rats were exposed to radiation (1.2 Gy/min) at a dose of 18 Gy. Following irradiation of the rats, puerarin was injected intravenously at each dose of 30 mg/kg in 6 consecutive days (24 h interval). Samples were collected and assayed one week later.


RESULTS
Puerarin delayed effectively the declines of the quantity of red blood cells and white blood cells in circulation due to ionizing irradiation, improved the index of thymus and spleen in ionizing irradiation rats, increased the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the rat myocardial tissue.


CONCLUSIONS
Puerarin has a marked protective effect on ionizing irradiation injury of experimental rats, and its protective mechanism is probably based on oxidation-resistance.
Jin
Le-Hong
LH
Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medicine, Hangzhou Teachers College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province 310012, China. jinlehong@sohu.com
Liu
Chuan-Fei
CF
Zeng
Yu
Y
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007529:Isoflavones / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism
D007529:Isoflavones; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; C033607:puerarin