Radioprotective effect of the Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra L.) against radiopharmaceutical Iodine-131 in Wistar rats in vivo

Abstract

BackgroundThe increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables has contributed to the improvement of populational health, due in part, to the abundance of antioxidants in these foods. Antioxidants reduce the level of oxidative damage to DNA caused by free radicals and ionizing radiation, including the radioisotope iodine-131 (131I). This isotope is used for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid injuries, such as hyperthyroidism and cancer.MethodsThis study aimed to evaluate the radioprotective and cytotoxic activity of acute and subchronic treatments with Barbados Cherry (BC) (Malpighia glabra L.) fruit juice (5 mg), which is rich in potent antioxidants such as vitamin C, phenols, carotenoids, anthocyanins and yellow flavonoids and its activity against the mutagenic activity of the therapeutic dose of 25 μCi of radioiodine for hyperthyroidism. The test system used was the bone marrow cells of Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) that were treated in vivo by gavage.ResultsBC showed radioprotective activity in acute treatments, which is most likely due to the joint action of its antioxidant components. In subchronic treatments, the continuous treatment presented an effective radioprotective activity, which was significantly different from treatment with the radiopharmaceutical only. Treatment with BC prior to (PRE) and simultaneous with (SIM) ionizing radiation decreased the number of induced chromosomal alterations, while post-treatment produced no protective effect. In addition, BC exhibited no cytotoxic activity.ConclusionsThese data serve as evidence that BC can be used as a preventive health measure to improve public health quality by countering the action of inevitable exposure to mutagens, such as 131I.

Cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of iodine-131 and radioprotection of acerola (Malpighia glabra L.) and beta-carotene in vitro

“…In addition, acerola pulp was found to contain high levels of antioxidant compounds (ascorbic acid, anthocyanins, carotenoids, total phenols, and yellow flavonoids) (laboratory data published in Düsman et al, 2012a). Table 2.…”

“…The results of physico-chemical analysis corroborate the beneficial radioprotective effect of acerola in the present study, as we showed that acerola pulp had high levels of antioxidant potential (IC 50 about 257.1 to 290.33 µg/mL by 50% methanol/70% acetone, water and 80% methanol extracts) (Table 4) and antioxidant compounds, similar to ascorbic acid (1960.02 ± 2.32 mg/100 g sample), anthocyanins (8.09 ± 0.09 mg/100 g sample), carotenoids (0.615 ± 0.005 mg/100 g sample), yellow flavonoids (11.03 ± 0.13 mg/100 g sample), and total phenols (6142.65 ± 15.80 mg gallic acid/100 g pulp) (Table 4) (laboratory data published in Düsman et al, 2012a). Nunes et al (2011) also claim that the protective effect exerted by acerola may be related to vitamin C and the complex mixture of nutrients, especially in the unripe fruit.…”

In vivo antimutagenic effects of the Barbados cherry fruit (Malpighia glabra Linnaeus) in a chromosomal aberration assay

“…In this sense, the antimutagenic activity of BC juice, which was evaluated in the present study, may be due to VC as well as to a mixture of chemical compounds that are present in the fruit, such as phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, carotenoids, and flavonoids (Almeida et al, 2013;Düsman et al, 2014), together with vitamins A, B1, B2, and B3, as well as calcium, iron, sodium, and phosphorus.…”

“…They demonstrated that the juice of fresh BC reduced the mean number of iodine-131 radiation-induced micronuclei in hepatoma cells of R. norvegicus in vitro by 50%. Other studies have also demonstrated the antimutagenic effects of the Barbados cherry fruit by the front matter of mutagen hydrogen peroxide (Nunes et al, 2011(Nunes et al, , 2013; with a comet assay using blood cells from mice and radiopharmaceutical iodine-131 (Düsman et al, 2014); with a chromosomal aberration test using the bone marrow cells of Wistar rats and iron; and with a micronucleus test using the bone marrow cells of mice (Horta et al, 2016). Additionally, Byrsonima verbascifolia, another plant of the Malpighiaceae family, reduced the damage induced by doxorubicin, another antineoplastic compound, by a SMART test using somatic cells from Drosophila melanogaster (Mendanha et al, 2010).…”

“…Thus, the antioxidant activity of BC may have been responsible for the antimutagenic activity of the fruit, sequestering the free radicals generated by CP, resulting in the lower levels of chromosomal alterations observed in these groups. The antioxidant activity of BC is mainly attributed to its high vitamin C (VC) content [BCN = 1960 mg VC/0.1 kg pulp, Düsman et al (2014), and BCF = 1232 mg VC/0.1 kg pulp]. The antimutagenic activity of VC has been confirmed in other studies, in particular, by Vijayalaxmi and Venu (1999), with concentrations of 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg of this vitamin inhibiting the genotoxicity of CP (50 mg/kg), using test-system cells derived from the bone marrows of mice treated in vivo, in a manner similar to the present study.…”