J Vet Sci.  2007 Mar;8(1):39-44. 10.4142/jvs.2007.8.1.39.

Radioprotective effects of an acidic polysaccharide of Panax ginseng on bone marrow cells

• Kim HJ
• Kim MH
• Byon YY
• Park JW
• Jee Y
• Joo HG

• KMID: 1104234
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2007.8.1.39

Abstract

An acidic polysaccharide of Panax ginseng (APG), so called ginsan is known to have important immunomodulatory activities. It was recently reported that APG has radioprotective effects in mice but the detailed mechanism was not fully elucidated. This study examined the effects of APG on bone marrow cells (BMs). The phenotypical and functional changes in APG-treated BMs after gamma radiation were studied. The benefit of APG on BMs damaged by gamma radiation was determined by measuring the cell viability. Using 2 different assays, a pretreatment with APG significantly increased the viability of BMs against gamma radiation. APG-treated BMs had a significantly higher amount of IL-12, which is a major cytokine for immune responses, compared with the medium-treated BMs. The expression of MHC class II molecules of APG-treated BMs was also increased, and APG-treated BMs showed significantly higher levels of allogeneic CD4+ T lymphocyte proliferation. Furthermore, APG-treated mice had a larger number of BMs after gamma radiation than the control mice, and the BMs of APG-treated mice were successfully cultured into dendritic cells, which are the representative antigenpresenting cells. Overall, this study shows that APG alters the phenotype of BMs, increases the viability and alloreactivity of BMs after gamma radiation both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, APG may be a good candidate radioprotective agent for BMs.

Keyword

bone marrow cells; gamma radiation; ginsan; Panax ginseng; radioprotection

MeSH Terms

Animals
Bone Marrow Cells/*drug effects/radiation effects
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism
Cell Survival/radiation effects
Flow Cytometry
Gamma Rays
Interleukin-12/biosynthesis
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Nitric Oxide/biosynthesis
Panax/*chemistry
Polysaccharides/*pharmacology
Radiation-Protective Agents/*pharmacology

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