A study on the radioprotective effect of green tea extract in gamma-irradiated ehrlich carcinoma-bearing mice

Abstract EN

The present study aimed to figure out the difference in the radio protective effects of green tea extract (GTE) supplementation on liver and tumor cells in Ehrlich carcinoma-bearing mice.

Administration of GTE (495 mg / kg body weight) to tumor-bearing mice via oral intubation for 14 days prior to 4Gy whole body γ-irradiation resulted in a significant decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA) level and a significant elevation in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in liver tissue suggesting the hepatoprotective effect of GTE against radiation- induced liver damage.

This was also supported by the significant decrease of serum aminotransferases activity in GTE-irradiated Ehrlich mice.

Although GTE supplementation before γ-irradiation exerted nonsignificant effects on MDA level and SOD activity in tumor tissues, the histopathological examination of tumor tissues revealed the presence of massive areas of necrosis which were confirmed via the significantly decreased tumor volume.

These results suggest that GTE behaves as a radio protector in normal hepatocytes and as a radio sensitizer in tumor tissues due to the difference in cellular biochemistry between normal and tumor cells.