The therapeutic effects of Zingiber officinale extract on mice irradiated by 60Co γ-ray

Abstract

Radiation can induce the acute and chronic radiation sickness via physical, chemical and biological mechanisms. In this study, we further investigated the therapeutic effects of gingerol on radiated mice. Mice were given gingerol at 800 mg/kg B.W. by oral gavage once daily for 5 consecutive days after exposure to 1, 3, 5 and 7 Gy of 60Co-gamma-radiation. Gingerol treated mice after irradiated by 3 and 5 Gy significantly increased the spleen index compared to 3 and 5 Gy irradiation+DDW mice, respectively. Besides, the gingerol treatment facilitated the recovery of white blood cells (WBC), lymphocytes (LYM), red blood cell (RBC) and hemoglobin (HGB) cell number at all the exposure doses. Moreover, the irradiated mice showed a dose-dependent depletion in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and total anti-oxidative capacity (T-AOC), while elevation in the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, however, gingerol treated mice after irradiation increased activities of SOD and T-AOC, and decreased the MDA levels in liver to a certain extent in all the exposure dose groups. In addition, the gingerol reduced the numbers of micronuclei (MN) of polychromatic erythrocytes (PCEs) in the bone marrow after mice were irradiated by 0, 1, 3, 5 Gy of γ-ray. Together, the findings indicated that gingerol had the therapeutic effects on mice against hematopoietic suppression and anti-oxidative damage caused by irradiation. Key words: Zingiber officinale extract, 60Co, γ-ray, mice, free radical, superoxide dismutase (SOD), radiation; hematopoietic suppression, antioxidation.