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. CONCLUSION: Puerarin has a marked protective effect on ionizing irradiation injury of experimental rats, and its protective mechanism is probably based on oxidation-resistance.