BackgroundRadiotherapy is one of the most important modalities in cancer treatment; however, normal tissue damage is a serious concern. Drug development for the protection or reduction of normal tissue damage is therefore a clinical issue. Herein, we evaluated the protective properties of Panax ginseng Meyer and its corresponding mechanisms.MethodsC56BL/6 mice were orally pretreated with P. ginseng water extract (PGE; 25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, or 100 mg/kg) or intraperitoneally injected melatonin (20 mg/kg) for 4 d consecutively, then exposed to 15-Gy X-ray radiation 1 h after the last administration. After 10 d of irradiation, the biological properties of hematoxicity, fat accumulation, histopathology, oxidative stress, antioxidant activity, pro-inflammatory cytokines, and apoptosis signals were examined in the hepatic tissue.ResultsThe irradiation markedly induced myelosuppression as determined by hematological analysis of the peripheral blood. Steatohepatitis was induced by X-ray irradiations, whereas pretreatment with PGE significantly attenuated it. Oxidative stress was drastically increased, whereas antioxidant components were depleted by irradiation. Irradiation also notably increased serum liver enzymes and hepatic protein levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Those alterations were markedly normalized by pretreatment with PGE. The degree of irradiation-induced hepatic tissue apoptosis was also attenuated by pretreatment with PGE, which was evidenced by a terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase 2′-deoxyuridine 5′-triphosphate nick-end labeling assay, western blotting, and gene expressions analysis, particularly of apoptotic molecules.ConclusionWe suggest that PGE could be applicable for use against radiation-induced liver injury, and its corresponding mechanisms involve the modulation of oxidative stress, inflammatory reactions, and apoptosis.
This study was conducted to determine effect of dietary reduced antibiotics supplementation on carcass characteristics and meat quality of finishing pigs fed stevia and charcoal. A total of 180 pigs (LYD) were randomly allocated into 3 treatments with 3 replications. Dietary treatments were 1) T1 (control, basal diet, no stevia and charcoal addition, antibiotics both in early and late fattening periods), 2) T2 (basal diet, 0.3% stevia + 0.3% charcoal, antibiotics both in early and late fattening periods), 3) T3 (basal diet, 0.3% stevia + 0.3% charcoal, antibiotics in early fattening period only). At each marketing day, pigs were conventionally slaughtered, examined the carcass characteristics and loin (Longissimus) muscles were removed for the meat quality traits. In the carcass characteristics, T3 group showed higher incidence of A carcass grade compared to the other treatments. Backfat thickness was higher in T2 group compared to the others (p<0.05). In the meat quality traits, pH was higher in T1 group than T3 group (p<0.05). Cooking loss was higher in T2 group than T1 group (p<0.05). However, WHC (water holding capacity), drip loss and shear force values did not show any significant differences among treatments. In the panel test, there were no significant differences in tenderness, juiciness, flavor, and total acceptability scores among treatments. As a result, dietary supplementation of reduced antibiotics to finishing pigs fed stevia and charcoal showed similar growth performance and meat quality traits compared to conventional method.
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