Possible role of Withania somnifera against gamma radiation induced cardiotoxicity in male albino rats

The study aims to investigate the possible role of withania somnifera (ws) against γ-rays induced cardiac lesions in male albino rats. forty albino rats were divided into four equal groups as follows: control group,rats were administered vehicle by gastric tube for 7 consecutive days. irradiated group (animals subjected to a single dose of whole body γ-rays (10 gy),treated group (each rat received 100 mg/kg body weight ws once daily,orally by gastric tube for one week),and treated irradiated group (each rat received 100 mg/kg body weight ws once daily,orally by gastric tube for one week,then one hour later after the last treatment,rats were exposed to a single dose of whole body γ-rays (10 gy). the results revealed that administration of ws to rats pre-irradiation significantly abolish the radiation-induced elevation of serum creatine phosphokinase (cpk),lactate dehydrogenase (ldh) and asparatate amino transferase (ast) activities,total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (ldl-c) levels,and restored high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (hdl-c),creatine kinase-mb (ck-mb) and cardiac troponin 1 (ctni) to normal levels. moreover,ws treatment elevates cardiac catalase (cat) and superoxide dismutase (sod) activities while reduced malondialdehyde (mda) level compared to irradiated group. the histopathological results showed distinctive pattern of myocardial injuries in irradiated group,while in treated-irradiated group the myocardial tissues showed minimum injury with or without congested blood vessels or edema. in conclusion,ws acts as a potent scavenger of free radicals to prevent or ameliorates the toxic effects of γ-rays. copyright 2016 zoological society of pakistan.