Impact of naringenin on glycoprotein levels in N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced gastric carcinogenesis in rats.

We have studied the chemopreventive role of naringenin against experimental gastric carcinogenesis in male Wistar rats. The animals were divided into five groups and six animals were included in each group. Stomach, liver, sera and kidney specimens were collected in the 20th week and the level of glycoproteins namely, hexose, hexosamine, sialic acid and fucose, were measured in the control, gastric cancer-induced, cancer naringenin pretreated, cancer naringenin posttreated and naringenin alone animals. The glycoprotein levels were increased in the gastric cancer-induced rats when compared with the control rats. The levels of glycoprotein were decreased significantly in cancer-bearing rats supplemented with naringenin as compared with the gastric cancer-induced rats. The result shows the gastroprotective effect of naringenin and describes the likelihood of naringenin in maintaining the integrity of cell membranes and gastric mucosa against oxidative damage. Moreover, we hypothesize that regulation of glycoprotein levels by naringenin could be associated with the regression of N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced gastric carcinoma.