Role of ferulic acid in the amelioration of ionizing radiation induced inflammation: a murine model

PLoS One. 2014 May 22;9(5):e97599. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097599. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Ionizing radiation is responsible for oxidative stress by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS), which alters the cellular redox potential. This change activates several redox sensitive enzymes which are crucial in activating signaling pathways at molecular level and can lead to oxidative stress induced inflammation. Therefore, the present study was intended to assess the anti-inflammatory role of ferulic acid (FA), a plant flavonoid, against radiation-induced oxidative stress with a novel mechanistic viewpoint. FA was administered (50 mg/kg body wt) to Swiss albino mice for five consecutive days prior to exposing them to a single dose of 10 Gy 60Co γ-irradiation. The dose of FA was optimized from the survival experiment and 50 mg/kg body wt dose showed optimum effect. FA significantly ameliorated the radiation induced inflammatory response such as phosphorylation of IKKα/β and IκBα and consequent nuclear translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB). FA also prevented the increase of cycloxygenase-2 (Cox-2) protein, inducible nitric oxide synthase-2 (iNOS-2) gene expression, lipid peroxidation in liver and the increase of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum. It was observed that exposure to radiation results in decreased activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and the pool of reduced glutathione (GSH) content. However, FA treatment prior to irradiation increased the activities of the same endogenous antioxidants. Thus, pretreatment with FA offers protection against gamma radiation induced inflammation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Animals
  • Blotting, Western
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Coumaric Acids / administration & dosage
  • Coumaric Acids / pharmacology*
  • Coumaric Acids / therapeutic use
  • Cyclooxygenase 2 / metabolism
  • DNA Primers / genetics
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Gamma Rays
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Inflammation / drug therapy*
  • Inflammation / etiology*
  • Interleukin-6 / blood
  • Lipid Peroxidation / drug effects
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / metabolism
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects*
  • Oxidative Stress / radiation effects
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Radiation Injuries, Experimental / drug therapy*
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / blood

Substances

  • Coumaric Acids
  • DNA Primers
  • Interleukin-6
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • ferulic acid
  • Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II
  • Nos2 protein, mouse
  • Cyclooxygenase 2

Grants and funding

SD acknowledges the support of funding by Life Science Research Board (LSRB), CSIR, Coconut Development Board, and West Bengal DBT for funding. SD acknowledges the support of Department of Science and technology (DST) for PURSE scheme to the Department of Physiology and UGC, Government India, for support under CPEPA scheme granted and CRNN to University of Calcutta. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.