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Published on: July 3, 2015
In vitro studies on radioprotective efficacy of silymarin against γ-irradiation
Manish Adhikari1, Atlar Dhaker, Jawahar Adhikari
1Department of Radiation Biotechnology, Radiation Biosciences Division and Division of CBRN Defence, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Brig SK Mazumdar Marg, Delhi, India.
Unlabelled:
Abstract Purpose: Silymarin has been widely exploited for its hepatoprotective activities. This study aimed to evaluate the protective efficacy of silymarin against γ-radiation.
Materials And Methods:
The radioprotective properties of silymarin were studied using different assays. Cytotoxicity of silymarin on Human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Protective efficacy against γ-radiation was assessed by studying reduction in micronuclei frequency and free radical generation using 2',7'-dichlorodihydroflurescin diacetate (H2DCFDA). Radiation-induced apoptosis was estimated by Annexin V-PI (propidium iodide) analysis and cell cycle analysis. γ-radiation induced changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and DNA damage was estimated employing flow-cytometry and comet assay respectively.
Results:
MTT assay and Annexin V-PI studies showed that pre-incubation of HEK cells with silymarin protected them from γ-irradiation. Significant reduction in apoptosis (76.36%) was observed. Silymarin also decreased the percentage of radiation-induced micronuclei (> 69%) (p < 0.05 ). Measurement of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) by H2DCFDA revealed a reduction in ROS (21%) at 0.5 h. Cell cycle analysis revealed G1 block in the unirradiated control, which declined in the silymarin pretreated irradiated group (0.5 h). Silymarin treatment resulted in a significant increase in MMP (2 h) against the radiation control. Moreover, the presence of silymarin during irradiation significantly decreased the DNA damage (as measured by comet assay).
Conclusions:
Protection against radiation-induced cell-death and DNA damage by silymarin could be attributed to a reduction in ROS induced by γ-radiation. In vitro experiments on HEK cells explicitly prove that silymarin is a promising, effective and safe radiation countermeasure agent.
