Radioprotective Properties of Chitosan on Cultured Human Lymphocytes against Electron Beam Radiation.

The radioprotective effects of naturally occurring compounds have been investigated in vitro and in vivo considering their pharmacological role in prevention and treatment of cancer. Chitosan (CS) is a naturally occurring polymer that has been increasing attention in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications because of its biocompatibility, biodegradability, nontoxicity, cationic properties and bio adhesive characters. Lymphocytes were treated with different concentrations of chitosan for the period of 2 and 24 hr. Cell viability was determined by tryphan blue dye exclusion assay, single strand DNA damage by alkaline comet assay and in vitro cytogenetic damages were evaluated by micronucleus assays. Treatment of lymphocytes with chitosan before and after the exposure to 4Gy of electron beam radiation (EBR) resulted in the reduction of percentage of tail DNA in comet from 24.06±3.92 to 6.94±1.34 and olive tail moment (OTM) was reduced from 25.34±3.09 to 10.66±0.23 at 10μg/mL concentration. The micronucleus formation in radiation control group (13.75±0.37) was significantly reduced in chitosan pretreated groups 7.63±1.02. Cells treated with chitosan at 10μg/mL showed maximum viability after exposure to EBR. Present investigation data proves the protective effect of CS against EBR induced damage in lymphocyte. However, increase in concentration above 100 μg/mL though resulted in higher protection, an increased cell toxicity was also noticed.

Hepatoprotective Effect of Mussaenda Erythrophylla and Aegle Marmelos in Ethanol Induced Rat Hepatotoxicity Model.

Aim: To assess the protective effect of ethanolic leaf extract of Mussaenda erythrophylla and Aegle marmelos in ethanol induced hepatotoxicity. Methods: The ethanolic extract M. erythrophylla (ME) and A. marmelos (AM) studied for its hepatoprotective effect on alcohol induced acute liver damage on Wistar albino rats. The degree of protection was measured by using biochemical parameters such as serum glutamate oxalate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), total bilirubin (TBL), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione (GSH), and total antioxidant (TAC) levels. Results: Alcohol treated group had enhanced levels of SGPT, SGOT, total bilirubin (p <0.05) and decreased levels of GSH, SOD and GPx (p <0.05) when compared with control group. Treatment with silymarin and 200mg/kg of M. erythrophylla and A. marmelos leaf extract had significantly (p <0.01) brought down the elevated levels of SGPT, SGOT, and total bilirubin and an increase in the levels of GSH, SOD, GPx (p <0.001) and total antioxidant. (p <0.0001) Conclusion: The results showed that ethanolic extract of M. erythrophylla and A. marmelos leaves extracts possesses significant hepatoprotective activity.

Modulatory effect of Allium sativum Ethanolic Extract on Cultured Human Lymphocytes.

Allium sativum (Garlic) have been known since from ancient years for its medicinal properties. It is widely used as antibacterial, antifungal, anticoagulant, anticancer, hypoglycaemicand hypocholesteromic. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of different concentration ofethanolic extract of Allium sativum extract on cultured human lymphocytes. Cytotoxicity was assessed by tryphan blue dye exclusion assay, single strand DNA damage was studied by alkaline comet assay and apoptosis was assessed by DNA diffusion assay. The percentage of live and dead cells was counted in cell viability assay. In comet assay tail length, percentage tail DNA and olive tail movement were considered as parameters for DNA damage. In DNA diffusion assay number of apoptotic cells counted comparing the normal cell nucleus and apoptotic cell nucleus. The study was performed in 3 concentrations of Allium sativum extract, 10, 50 and 100μg/ml including untreated control group. The results showed that all the comet parameters was significantly (p<0.05) increased by the effect of Allium sativum extract, which was dose dependent. Percentage of apoptotic cells also increased with higher concentration of the garlic. These results conclude, the cytotoxicity induced by the garlic extract is directly proportional to the single strand DNA break. The increase in the DNA damage positively correlates to the number of apoptotic cells present in the culture medium.