Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms of Radioprotective Effects of Naringenin, a Phytochemical from Citrus Fruits

Abstract

The present study was aimed to evaluate the radioprotective effects of naringenin in vivo using Swiss albino mice as a model system. Oral administration of 50 mg/kg body weight of naringenin for 7 days prior to radiation exposure protected mice against radiation-induced DNA, chromosomal and membrane damage. Naringenin pretreatment also increased the antioxidant status of irradiated mice. Multiple factors operating at cellular and molecular levels led to increased endogenous spleen colonies and survival of mice. Although naringenin induces apoptosis in cancer cells we found that it can protect against radiation-induced apoptosis in normal cells by modulating the expression of p53, Bax, and Bcl-2. The results from the present study indicate that naringenin inhibits the NF-kB pathway and down regulates radiation-induced apoptotic proteins resulting in radioprotection at the cellular, tissue and organism levels.

The effect of naringenin on the role of nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like2 (Nrf2) and haem oxygenase 1 (HO‐1) in reducing the risk of oxidative stress‐related radiotoxicity in the spleen of rats

“…In this study, NRG treatment mitigated the toxicity of lipid peroxidation and H 2 O 2 production, restored GSH content and the activity of SOD, CAT, and Gpx in the spleen of irradiated rats and this in agreement with previous findings . Our findings might be explained as mentioned by other authors, that the hydroxyl group in position 7 of the structure of NRG significantly elevated the antioxidant capacity of the flavanone towards the stable radicals .…”

“…In this study, NRG treatment mitigated the toxicity of lipid peroxidation and H 2 O 2 production, restored GSH content and the activity of SOD, CAT, and Gpx in the spleen of irradiated rats and this in agreement with previous findings. [55][56][57][58] Our findings might be explained as mentioned by other authors, that the hydroxyl group in position 7 of the structure of NRG significantly elevated the antioxidant capacity of the flavanone towards the stable radicals. 19 In addition, irradiated rats received naringenin had a significant increase in the level and the relative protein expression of Nrf2 that can upregulate the expression of HO-1 to confirm the pivotal role of NRG in enhancing the endogenous defense mechanisms that protect the spleen against oxidative damage and promote its recovery after radiation exposure.…”

Potent radioprotective effect of herbal immunomodulator drug (IMOD) on mouse bone marrow erythrocytes as assayed with the micronucleus test

“…Because of their low toxicity, botanical and natural products have been evaluated for their radioprotective potentials. Plants containing polyphenolic compounds ( 34,35) , Naringenin (36) , -lavonoids of Rosa roxburghii Tratt (37) , ocimum -lavonoids (38,39) have shown antioxidative activities and protect genetic material from ionizing radiation. Radioprotective effect of all tested herbal products were attributed to their antioxidant properties.…”

Protection of Radiation induced Somatic Damage by the Reduction of Oxidative Stress at Critical Organs of Rat with Naringenin Administration

“…The damages are called as oxidative damage, and it affect to most of the biological molecules such as protein, lipid, and DNA (Azzam et al 2012;Dixit et al 2012). Those express acute radiation syndrome (ARS) such as the dysfunction/malfunction of hematopoietic, or chronic radiation syndrome followed by genetic mutations and immune dysfunction (Kumar & Tiku 2016). A whole body exposure to radiation of mammals to dose of over than 5 Gy can cause radiation sickness, hematopoietic syndrome, and gastrointestinal syndrome (Hall & Giaccia 2006, Koukourakis 2014.…”

“…These compounds have health benefits expected by free radical scavenging effect, antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory mechanisms (Cavia Saiz et al 2010). They protect cells against the damaging effect of ROS and free radicals by the hydrogen/electron transfer at the position of 4-hydroxyl group in the B ring of Ng (Benkovic et al 2009, Di Meo et al 2013, Kumar & Tiku 2016). …”