Evaluation of the radioprotective effect of bael leaf (Aegle marmelos) extract in mice.

PURPOSE: To investigate the radioprotective activity of a leaf extract of bael leaf (Aegle marmelos) (AME) in mice exposed to different doses of gamma-radiation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The acute toxicity of AME was evaluated in Swiss albino male mice administered various intraperitoneal single doses of AME. For radioprotection studies, mice were administered different doses, 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 40 mg kg(-1), of AME or sterile physiological saline intraperitoneally once daily consecutively for 5 days before exposure to 10 Gy 60Co gamma-radiation or five doses of 15 mg kg(-1) AME before exposure to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 Gy. The animals were monitored for symptoms of radiation sickness and mortality up to 30 days post-irradiation. Glutathione and lipid peroxidation were estimated in the surviving animals of both groups on day 31 post-irradiation.
RESULTS: AME was non-toxic up to a single dose of 1750 mg kg(-1). The optimum radioprotective dose was five consecutive doses of 15 mg kg(-1) AME, where the highest survival to 10 Gy radiation was observed. The irradiation caused a dose-dependent decline in survival, while treatment of mice with AME enhanced survival. The dose reduction factor was 1.15. Irradiation caused a dose-dependent decline in the level of glutathione accompanied by an elevation in lipid peroxidation. AME pretreatment arrested glutathione decline and lipid peroxidation significantly.
CONCLUSION: AME treatment reduced the symptoms of radiation-induced sickness and increased survival. The radioprotective action might be due to free-radical scavenging and arrest of lipid peroxidation accompanied by an elevation in glutathione.