Radioprotective Effect of Arbutin in Megavoltage Therapeutic X-irradiated Mice using Liver Enzymes Assessment

Medical use of ionizing radiation has direct/indirect undesirable effects on normal tissues. In this study, the radioprotective effect of arbutin in megavoltage therapeutic x-irradiated mice was investigated using serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and asparate amniotransferase (AST) activity measurements.

In this analytical and experimental lab study, sixty mice (12 identical groups) were irradiated with 6 MV x-ray beam (2 and 4 Gy in one fraction). Arbutin concentrations were chosen 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg and injected intraperitoneal 2 hours before irradiation. Samples of peripheral blood cells were collected and serum was separated on the 1, 3, and 7 days post-x-radiation; in addition, the level of ALP, ALT, and AST were measured. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, and Tukey HSD test.

X-radiation (2 and 4 Gy) increased the ALT and AST activity levels on the 1, 3, and 7 days post- irradiation, but the ALP level significantly increased on the 1 and 7 days and decreased on the third day compared to the control group (P< 0.001). ALP, ALT and AST activity levels in “2 and 4 Gy x irradiation + distilled water” groups were significantly higher than “2 and 4 Gy irradiation + 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg arbutin” groups on the first and seventh day post-irradiation (P< 0.001).

Arbutin is a strong radioprotector for reducing the radiation effect on the whole-body tissues by measuring ALP, ALT and AST enzyme activity levels. Furthermore, the concentration of 50 mg/kg arbutin showed higher radioprotective effect.