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Gamma irradiation-induced liver injury and its amelioration by red ginseng extract

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Abstract

Radiation therapy is associated with liver damage and late liver injury. The hepatoprotective effect of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) was determined in whole-body gamma-irradiated (γIR) mice. KRG at a dose of 10 and 50 mg/kg body weight was administrated to male C57BL/6 mice (each group, n=5) intraperitoneally for five days before whole-body γIR (6.5 Gy). Three days after γIR, serum and liver tissue were collected and analysed. Pretreatment with KRG suppressed serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alkaline aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and γ-glutamyl-transferase (GGT) activities. It also caused a marked increase in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumour growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) expression associated nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation in the liver. Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) were also activated by irradiation. KRG treatment before irradiation could strongly suppress COX-2, TGF-β1, and ERK activation in the liver. Pretreatment with KRG may alleviate the severity of radiation-induced liver injury and fibrosis.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oriental Medicine Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 17104, Republic of Korea

    Seon-A Jang & Se Chan Kang

  2. Department of Convergence Biomedical Science, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Center, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, 47392, Republic of Korea

    Sung Ryul Lee

  3. Department of Medicinal and Industrial Crops, Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jeonju, 54874, Republic of Korea

    Hyun Jung Koo

  4. Department of Herbal Medicine Resource, Kangwon National University, Samcheok, 25949, Republic of Korea

    ** Woo Lee, Yuna Park & Eun-Hwa Sohn

  5. Department of Physical Therapy, Kangwon National University, Samcheok, 25949, Republic of Korea

    Seung Namkoong

  6. Department of Bio & Environmental Technology, College of Natural Science, Seoul Women’s University, Seoul, 01797, Republic of Korea

    Myung Kyum Kim

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  1. Seon-A Jang
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Correspondence to Se Chan Kang or Eun-Hwa Sohn.

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Jang, SA., Lee, S.R., Koo, H.J. et al. Gamma irradiation-induced liver injury and its amelioration by red ginseng extract. Mol. Cell. Toxicol. 13, 461–469 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-017-0050-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13273-017-0050-5

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