Radioprotective potential of Lagenaria siceraria extract against radiation-induced gastrointestinal injury

Abstract

The cucurbits (prebiotics) were investigated as novel agents for radio-modification against gastrointestinal injury. The cell-cycle fractions and DNA damage were monitored in HCT-15 cells. A cucurbit extract was added to culture medium 2 h before irradiation (6 Gy) and was substituted by fresh medium at 4 h post-irradiation. The whole extract of the fruits of Lagenaria siceraria, Luffa cylindrica, or Cucurbita pepo extract enhanced G fractions (42%, 34%, and 37%, respectively) as compared with control (20%) and irradiated control (31%). With cucurbits, the comet tail length remained shorter (L. siceraria, 28 μm; L. cylindrica, 34.2 μm; C. pepo, 36.75 μm) than irradiated control (41.75 μm). For in vivo studies, L. siceraria extract (2 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally to mice at 2 h before and 4 and 24 h after whole-body irradiation (10 Gy). L. siceraria treatment restored the glutathione contents to 48.8 μmol/gm as compared with control (27.6 μmol/gm) and irradiated control (19.6 μmol/gm). Irradiation reduced the villi height from 379 to 350 μm and width from 54 to 27 μm. L. siceraria administration countered the radiation effects (length, 366 μm; width, 30 μm, respectively) and improved the villi morphology and tight junction integrity. This study reveals the therapeutic potential of cucurbits against radiation-induced gastrointestinal injury.

Citrus Extract Improves the Absorption and Utilization of Nitrogen and Gut Health of Piglets

“…Likewise, Lagenaria siceraria extract increased the height, width and area of jejunal villi in irradiated mice, and improved villi morphology and tight junction integrity [36]. In the present study, the VH (duodenum) and VCR (duodenum, ileum) of the CE and ANTI groups were higher than that of CON, while the CD (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) was lower, which is consistent with previous studies [34][35][36]. These measurements demonstrate the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects of CE flavonoids on intestinal repair and protection, and the overall improvement of intestinal morphology.…”

“…In another example, compared with lipopolysaccharide-stimulated mice, Acanthopanax senticosus extract increased the VH and VCR of jejunum and ileum, and decreased jejunum CD [34]. Likewise, Lagenaria siceraria extract increased the height, width and area of jejunal villi in irradiated mice, and improved villi morphology and tight junction integrity [36]. In the present study, the VH (duodenum) and VCR (duodenum, ileum) of the CE and ANTI groups were higher than that of CON, while the CD (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) was lower, which is consistent with previous studies [34][35][36].…”

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“…9. Ls has been reported to counter the radiation induced injury to villi in our previous study 18 . The Ls, Cp and Lc have been reported to contain anti-oxidants like flavonoids and other polyphenolic compounds 30,36,56 .…”

“…Lagenaria extract has been reported to improve the tight junction integrity and length of the villi in the mice which were subjected to radiation exposure (10 Gy) invivo 18 .…”

Peer Review #2 of "Genome-wide identification of new reference genes for RT-qPCR normalization in CGMMV-infected Lagenaria siceraria (v0.1)"

“…It could be routinely used as one rootstock source for watermelon and other cucurbit crops in both Japan and Korea in order to reduce the incidence of soil-borne diseases and promote the vigor of the root system of the crops in low temperature conditions (Yetisir et al, 2013;Cho et al, 2017;Spalholz et al, 2017). Medicinally, L. siceraria extract has radioprotective potential in radiation-induced gastrointestinal injury (Sharma et al, 2016), and its latex sap exhibits potent lectin activity to mitigate neoplastic malignancy by targeting neovasculature and cell death (Vigneshwaran et al, 2016). Recently, a dedicated database named GourdBase was developed, which promoted the study of biological traits and molecular breeding in the bottle gourd (Wang et al, 2018).…”