Whole body exposure to ionizing radiation induces the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in different tissues provoking oxidative damage, organ dysfunction and metabolic disturbances. The present study was designed to determine the possible protective effect of grape seed extract (GSE), rich in proanthocyanidins against gamma-radiation-induced oxidative stress in heart and pancreas tissues associated with serum metabolic disturbances. Irradiated rats were whole body exposed to 5 Gy gamma-radiation. GSE-treated irradiated rats received 100 mg GSE/kg/day, by gavage, for 14 days before irradiation. The animals were killed on days 1, 14 and 28 after irradiation. Significant decreases of SOD, CAT and GSH-Px activities associated with significant increases of TBARS levels were recorded in both tissues after irradiation. GSE administration pre-irradiation significantly attenuated the radiation-induced oxidative stress in heart tissues which was substantiated by a significant amelioration of serum LDH, CPK and AST activities. GSE treatment also attenuated the oxidative stress in pancreas tissues which was associated with a significant improvement in radiation-induced hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. In conclusion, the present data demonstrate that GSE would protect the heart and pancreas tissues from oxidative damage induced by ionizing irradiation.

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Background: Systemic inflammation due to radiation exposure has been identified in a biological system by certain metabolic and behavioral disorders. These anarchies mostly mediated under a regulation of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) induced production of an inflammatory mediator prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). Aim: This study was undertaken to investigate the anti-inflammatory impact of brown sea weed extract (BSWE) against induction of COX2/PGE2 inflammatory pathway in gamma-irradiated rats. Rats were orally administrated with BSWE (27 mg/kg body weight/day) for 7 consecutive days before exposure to 8 Gy fractionated gamma radiation (2 Gy × 4; every 3 days). Treatment with BSWE was extended along with and in-between irradiation doses for another 14 successive days. Our data demonstrated that the administration of BSWE to rats exposed to gamma radiation, following the regimen suggested, significantly neutralize the changes induced in the inflammatory molecules COX2, PGE2, tumor necrosis alpha (TNF-α), and nitric oxide (NO). In addition, it adjusted significantly the cellular redox tone via regulation of changes induced in malondialdehyde (MDA) reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) catalase (CAT) and xanthine oxidoreductase system (XOR). Credibly, from the results emerged in this study, it could be suggested that BSWE has substantial anti-inflammatory activities and gamma radiation protection capabilities. It is recommended to include BSWE in the treatment strategy of various inflammatory diseases especially cancer as a safe natural anti-inflammatory agent.

1. A trial was conducted to examine the effects of dietary vitamin E content, age and sex on haematological indices and liver enzymes of Japanese quails. A total of 800 1-d-old quail chicks were assigned at random into 4 equal groups and fed on starter and layer diets containing 0, 1, 5 or 10 times the NRC recommended supplements of vitamin E. No selenium was added to the basal deficient diets; the other diets were supplied with 0.2 mg selenium/kg diet. 2. The investigation covered the age span of 3 to 12 weeks in female and male birds. Blood samples were collected at 3-week intervals and tested for haematological indices (erythrocyte count; leucocyte count; susceptibility of erythrocytes to haemolysis; haemoglobin concentration (Hb); packed cell volume (PCV); and mean corpuscular volume (MCV)) and liver enzymes (aspartate transaminase, AST, and glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px). 3. The significant differences between the 4 dietary treatments indicated that as the levels of selenium and/or vitamin E increased, the percentage of erythrocytes haemolysed and AST activity decreased, whereas Hb and GSH-Px concentrations increased. 4. Differences between age groups showed that older quails had higher erythrocyte susceptibility to haemolysis, higher AST levels and but lower erythrocyte count and PCV. 5. Females had lower erythrocyte haemolysis and higher Hb concentrations than males. 6. The interaction between dietary groups and age groups revealed that the differences between age groups were reduced as the level of selenium and/or vitamin E increased, leading to similar group means over the age period of study. 7. In conclusion, NRC recommended supplements of vitamin E (12 and 25 mg/kg diet) were not adequate. Doses equal to, at least, 5 times that recommended were advised to improve GSH-Px (index of antioxidant status) and Hb concentrations.

Cardiovascular disease and cancer are the two leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide (Fuster and Voute, 2005). Over the last half century, radiation therapy (RT) has evolved to become one of the cornerstones of treatment for various types of cancers. It is estimated that more than 50% of patients with cancer are treated with radiotherapy (Yusuf et al., 2011). Radiotherapy is frequently used as a part of cancer treatment to achieve tumor control. Although, radiotherapy treatment has been widely used as an effective tool to kill tumor cells, it might produce harmful effects to surrounding healthy tissues (Sezen et al., 2008 and Ostrau et al., 2009). It is well known that ionizing radiations induce oxidative stress on target tissues, mainly through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in imbalance of the pro-oxidant and antioxidant in the cells, attack diverse cellular macromolecules such as DNA, lipids and proteins, eventually inducing cell death (Boerma and Hauer-Jensen, 2011).