Post treatment effect of Grewia asiatica against radiation-induced biochemical alterations in Swiss albino mice.

The increasing use of nuclear radiation for human welfare necessitates the search for new, safe, and cost-effective radioprotectors not only for the personnel charged with the responsibility of testing or working with radiation in laboratories, but also for the general public. With this view, the present study has been undertaken to find out the possible radioprotective potential of the Grewia asiatica fruit pulp extract (GAE). It is reported to have a high content of antioxidants such as vitamin C, anthocyanin, folate carotenoids, etc. that may play a possible role in radioprotection. In the present investigation, healthy Swiss albino mice were selected from an inbred colony and divided into four groups: (i) control (vehicle treated), (ii) only GAE treated (700 mg/Kg. body wt./day for 15 consecutive days), (iii) irradiated (5 Gy), and (iv) irradiated + GAE treated. Mice were sacrificed at different autopsy intervals posttreatment, viz., 1-30 days. Blood was collected and liver was removed for various biochemical estimations, viz., glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxidation. The results indicated that GAE posttreatment protects liver and blood against radiation-induced damage by inhibiting glutathione depletion and ameliorating lipid peroxidation levels that attended normal levels by day 30 posttreatment. Moreover, the magnitude of recovery from oxidative damage in terms of TBARS and GSH content was significantly higher (p<0.001) in the irradiated + GAE-treated group.