Protective effects of Angelica sinensis and Angelica sinensis polysaccharides against liver and kidney injury induced by irradiation in rats

Objective To investigate the protective effects of Angelica sinensis and Angelica sinensis polysaccharide against liver and kidney injury induced by irradiation of SD rats. Methods Thirty-two SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group, model group, Angelica decoction group and Angelica sinensis polysaccharide group. After 14 days of routine feeding, the rats were treated by intragastric administration once a day for 7 days. From the 8th day, the rats received whole body X-ray irradiation for 2 days. The total absorbed dose was 6Gy, and the dose rate was 92.26cGy/min. The rats were killed and the blood were collected from the femoral artery 3 days after irradiation. The content of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and lipid peroxide (LPO) in the liver and kidney tissues was detected by colorimetric analysis. The pathological changes of the liver and kidney were observed by HE staining under microscope. The expression of Nrf2 protein in the liver and kidney of the rats was detected by Western blotting. Results Compared with control group, the weight of the liver and kidney significantly increased, the activities of SOD and GSH-Px significantly decreased, the contents of MDA and LPO significantly increased, and the liver and kidney cells showed obvious edema, and the content of Nrf2 in the liver and kidney increased in the model group. Compared with model group, the weight of the liver and kidney decreased, SOD and GSH-Px activities significantly increased, the contents of MDA and LPO significantly decreased, edema of the liver and kidney significantly reduced, the expression of Nrf2 in the liver and kidney tissues decreased in Angelica decoction group and Angelica sinensis polysaccharides group, while there was no difference between Angelica sinensis polysaccharide group and Angelica decoction group. Conclusion　Angelica sinensis and Angelica polysaccharides have a good protective effect against liver and kidney injury induced by radiation in SD rats, which is implemented mainly through influencing the expression of free radicals. The protective effect of Angelica against radiation injury is achieved mainly by Angelica polysaccharide. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2017.09.12