A novel chitosan microsphere for encapsulating pine cone polyphenols (PP) from P. koraiensis was successfully prepared using an emulsion crosslinking technique. The characteristics of pine polyphenol-loaded microspheres (PPM) were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and a laser particle size detector. It was found that PPMs were spherical in shape with uniform particle size distribution patterns. The drug content and encapsulation rate of the microspheres were 7.47% and 73.6%, respectively, at a Ch/GA mass ratio of 0.7. The animal experiments showed that PPM had a stronger radiation protective effect than PP. PPM significantly increased the immune organ indices, the quantity of marrow DNA, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, the splenocyte proliferation index, and the phagocytosis activity of monocytes. PPM also decreased the numbers of micronuclei in bone marrow cells and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in plasma in mice exposed to 60Co γ-irradiation. In addition, gender differences in biological responses to exposure to radiation were observed.
Keywords: Pinus koraiensis; chitosan microspheres; pine cones; polyphenols; radioprotection.