St -Rays-induced molecular and biochemical lesionsSameh S Tawfik1, Amira M Abouelella
St -Rays-induced molecular and biochemical lesionsSameh S Tawfik1, Amira M Abouelella2 and Yasser E Shahein3*AbstractBackground: Curcumin is a yellow-pigment phenolic compound used as a food spice and has a broad spectrum of antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic and anti-inflammatory properties. Methods: Radio-protective efficacy of curcumin; diferuloylmethane (C21H20O6) was evaluated using molecular and biochemical assays in male mice after exposure to 3 Gy -rays. Curcumin was given at a dose of 400 mol/ kg body weight via gastric tubes for 5 following days either pre-, post- or both pre- and post-exposure. Results: The incidence of aberrant cells and aberration types (mostly chromatids, breaks and fragments) was reduced with curcumin dosage as compared to irradiated group. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), hydroperoxide (HP), xanthine oxidase (XO) and apoptotic markers (DNA- fragmentation and caspase-3 activation) were increased significantly, whereas levels of glutathione (GSH) and the enzymatic antioxidants [Superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)] were significantly depleted in -irradiated mice. Curcumin treatments of mice groups including the 5 days pre-irradiation treated group (protected), the 5 days post-irradiation treated group (treated), and the curcumin treated group 5 days pre- and post-irradiation (protracted), have attenuated the liver toxic effects of -rays as manifested by reducing the levels of TBARS, HP, XO and DNA fragmentation. Curcumin has also rescued the depletion of GSH and the enzymatic-antioxidant status. Conclusions: Curcumin has significant radio-protective and radio-recovery activities in -irradiated mice. It has antioxidant potential against -rays-induced cytogenetic, molecular and biochemical lesions in mice. Keywords: Curcumin, -rays, Biochemical alterations, DNA-profile, MiceBackground Ionizing radiation is known to induce oxidative stress through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causing direct lesions in the DNA and biological molecules ultimately resulting in molecular and biochemical alterations [1]. In vitro, curcumin has a therapeutic potential for improving the antitumor effects of radiotherapy [2] and in vivo, curcumin can modify cell survival and DNA repair efficacy [3]. Curcumin, a major bioactive compound present in turmeric is a yellow pigment phenolic compound obtained from the roots of Curcuma longa used as spice. It has a* Correspondence: [email protected] 3 Molecular Biology Department, National Research Centre, P. O. Box: 33211, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt Full list of author information is available at the end of the articlebroad spectrum of antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, antimutagenic PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27321907 and anti-inflammatory properties [2,4]. The anticancer potential of curcumin is attributed to its ability to treat various illnesses and suppress proliferation of a wide variety of tumour cells and down-regulate transcription factors [5]. Curcumin pre-treatment accelerated healing of irradiated wound and could be a substantial therapeutic strategy in the management of irradiated wounds [6]. Recently, Mosieniak et al. [7] found that curcumininduced double-strand breaks promoting genetic Baicalein 6-methyl ether site instability by activating other cell signalling pathways and as a result, tumour cells fail to undergo cell cycle arrest, enter mitosis and die through mitotic catastrophe. In contrast, curcumin mitigates the genotoxic effects of the two wellknown wa.
