Radiation‐Induced Testicular Injury and Its Amelioration by Tinospora cordifolia (An Indian Medicinal Plant) Extract

Abstract

The primary objective of this investigation is to determine the deleterious effects of sub lethal gamma radiation on testes and their possible inhibition by Tinospora cordifolia extract (TCE). For this purpose, one group of male Swiss albino mice was exposed to 7.5 Gy gamma radiation to serve as the irradiated control, while the other group received TCE (75 mg/kg b. wt./day) orally for 5 consecutive days half an hr before irradiation to serve as experimental. Exposure of animals to 7.5 Gy gamma radiation resulted into significant decrease in body weight, tissue weight, testes- body weight ratio and tubular diameter up to 15 days of irradiation. Cent percent mortality was recorded by day 17th in irradiated control, whereas all animals survived in experimental group. TCE pretreatment rendered significant increase in body weight, tissue weight, testes- body weight ratio and tubular diameter at various intervals as compared to irradiated group. Radiation induced histological lesions in testicular architecture were observed more severe in irradiated control then the experimental. TCE administration before irradiation significantly ameliorated radiation induced elevation in lipid peroxidation and decline in glutathione concentration in testes. These observations indicate the radio- protective potential of Tinospora cordifolia root extract in testicular constituents against gamma irradiation in mice.

Effects of Tinospora cordifolia supplementation on semen quality and hormonal profile in rams

“…The beneficial effects of T. cordifolia in semen production and preservation are due to its action on whole body systems in general and the reproductive system specifically (Gupta and Viswanathan, 1956;Thatte and Dahanukar, 1989;Bishayi et al, 2002;Veena et al, 2002;Stanley et al, 2003;Nair et al, 2004;Rawal et al, 2004;Wesley et al, 2008;Sharma et al, 2011).…”

“…These plant leaves also contain large amounts of protein (11.20%), vitamin C, phosphorus (Khosa and Prasad, 1971), insulin/insulin like growth factor (Prince et al, 1998) and when consumed by animals increases testes-body weight ratio and seminiferous tubular diameter (Sharma et al, 2011). Moreover, these compounds maintain plasma and mitochondrial membrane integrity and cytoskeleton structure of flagella of sperm (Rawal et al, 2004) and have adaptogenic properties (Singh et al, 2005).…”

Toxicity Effect of Ultraviolet (UV) Radiations on the Human Germ Cell and the Protective Role of Vitamin E

“…Radiation causes damage to especially sensitive the tissue and consumer products, medical procedures, nuclear weapons testing and occupations always affect these cells in nature [1][2][3].…”

Characterization of Gamma Irradiation Absorbing Compounds from Lichens for Biomedical Applications

“…Ionizing radiation causes its adverse effects through the generation of oxidative stress that leads to massive destruction of various biomolecules. 1 They are capable of inflicting deleterious effects on living cells by causing damages to cellular membranes and DNA. Membranes and DNA are the vital targets for radiation induced inactivation in the biological system.…”