title: Triphala, a formulation of traditional Ayurvedic medicine, shows protective effect against X-radiation in HeLa cells.
abstract: Ayurveda is a holistic medical system of traditional medicine, and Triphala is one of the most popular formulations in Ayurveda. Triphala is composed of three kinds of herb, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia bellirica, and Emblica officinalis. Since Triphala is shown to exhibit a protective activity against ionizing radiation in mice, we investigated its activity in HeLa cells. We found that Triphala showed the protective effects against X-radiation and bleomycin, both of which generate DNA strand breaks, in HeLa cells. Further, Triphala efficiently eliminated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HeLa cells. Thus, the antioxidant activity of Triphala would likely play a role in its protective actions against X-radiation and bleomycin because both agents damage DNA through the generation of ROS. These observations suggested that the radioprotective activity of Triphala can be, at least partly, studied with the cells cultured in vitro. The simple bioassay system with human cultured cells would facilitate the understanding of the molecular basis for the beneficial effects of Triphala.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Nanobioscience, Yokohama City University, Kanagawa 236-0027, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takauji
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miki
authors.forename: Juma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mita
authors.forename: Mohammad Nazir
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: Masatake
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Mitomu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kioi
authors.forename: Dai
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ayusawa
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujii
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000009:adverse effects; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008515:Medicine, Ayurvedic; D051379:Mice; D029842:Phyllanthus emblica / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D029766:Terminalia / Q000737:chemistry; D014965:X-Rays
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D010936:Plant Extracts; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C520904:triphala; D001761:Bleomycin