Protective effect of an extract from Periplaneta americana on hematopoiesis in irradiated rats

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the protective effect of W11-a12, an extract from Periplaneta americana, on hematopoiesis in irradiated rats.Materials and methods: Wistar rats receiving total body irradiation of 60Co γ-rays alone or with combined radiation and skin wound injury were used in this study. W11-a12 was applied either topically into the skin wounds or systemically by intraperitoneal injection. The numbers of white blood cells in peripheral blood, the nucleated cells and the colony-forming unit of granulocyte/macrophage progenitors (CFU-GM) in bone marrow were measured, respectively.Results: Topical application of W11-a12 into skin wounds in rats with combined 6 Gy total body irradiation and skin wound injury could increase the neutrophils and macrophages in the wounded area and the nucleated cells in bone marrow at 24 h and 48 h, while the peripheral white blood cells did not show significant change. However, in rats with 4 Gy total body irradiation alone, the peripheral white blood cells, bone marrow nucleated cells and the number of colony-forming unit of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors were all significantly higher in the treatment groups by intraperitoneal injection of W11-a12 than those in the control groups by injection of normal saline at days 3 and days 5 after radiation.Conclusions: W11-a12 showed a protective effect on hematopoiesis after total body irradiation and could increase the inflammatory cells in wounded tissues at the initiation stage after irradiation, which will benefit the management of combined radiation and skin wound injury.