Radio-Protective Effect of Lanzhou Lily Polysaccharide on the Spleen in Mice.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the protective effect and underlying mechanism of Lanzhou Lily Polysaccharide (LP) against radiation-induced splenic damage in mice.

METHODS

Mice were pretreated with LP before X-ray irradiation. (1) Antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx)), glutathione (GSH) content, and levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) in mice serum were measured using commercial kits; (2) The spleen index was calculated; (3) Hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining was performed to observe spleen morphology; (4) Splenocyte apoptosis and DNA damage were detected; (5) Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were employed to detect DNA damage repair (eg, γ-H2AX) and apoptosis-related protein expression in splenic tissues.

RESULTS

LP pretreatment alleviated irradiation-induced impairment of antioxidant capacity in mice, increased SOD, CAT, GPx activities and GSH content, decreased MDA and MPO levels. It reversed irradiation-induced reduction in spleen index. H&E staining showed LP mitigated radiation-caused splenic morphological damage. TUNEL assay demonstrated LP lowered the splenocyte apoptosis rate. Comet assay confirmed LP inhibited radiation-induced DNA damage in splenocytes. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting results revealed LP down-regulated the expression of γ-H2AX and modulated DNA damage repair-related proteins, regulating apoptosis-related protein levels.

CONCLUSION

LP can protect mice from radiation-induced splenic damage.