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Abstract
The liver is essential in keeping the body functioning properly
while muscular strength is important in sport as well as in daily
activities. Exposure to ionizing radiation is thought to increase oxidative
stress and damage liver and muscle tissues. Wheat germ oil is a natural
unrefined vegetable oil. It is an excellent source of vitamin E,
octacosanol, linoleic and linolenic essential fatty acids, which may be
beneficial in neutralizing the free oxygen radicals. This study was
designed to investigate the efficacy of wheat germ oil, on radiationinduced
oxidative damage in rat’s liver and skeletal muscle. Wheat
germ oil was supplemented orally via gavage to rats at a dose of 54 mg/
kg body weight for 14 successive days pre- and 7 days post-exposure to
5 Gy (single dose) of whole body γ- irradiation. Animals were sacrificed
7, 14 and 21 days post radiation exposure.
The results revealed that whole body γ-irradiation of rats induces
oxidative stress in liver and skeletal muscles obvious by significant
elevation in the levels of xanthine oxidase and thiobarbituric acid
reactive substances (TBARS) associated with significant decreases in
the content of reduced glutathione, as well as decreases in xanthine
dehydrogenase, superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione
peroxidase activities. Irradiated rats showed also significant decreases in
creatine phosphokinase, glutamate dehydrogenase and glucose-6-
phosphate dehydrogenase activities while lactate dehydrogenase were
significantly increased. Total iron, total copper and total calcium levels
significantly increased in the liver and skeletal muscles of irradiated rats
group compared to control group. Wheat germ oil treated-irradiated rats
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showed significantly less severe damage and remarkable improvement
in all the measured parameters, compared to irradiated rats.
It could be concluded that wheat germ oil by attenuating
radiation-induced oxidative stress might play a role in maintaining liver
and skeletal muscle integrity.