Abstract
Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the radioprotective effect of ferulic acid (FA) on irradiated lymphocytes and discover the possible mechanisms of protection.
Materials and methods: Lymphocytes were pretreated for 12 h with FA (0.001–0.1 μM) and then exposed to 3 Gy radiation. Cell apoptosis, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and signal pathway was analysed.
Results: Irradiation increased cell death, DNA fragmentation and intracellular ROS. Pretreatment with FA significantly reversed this tendency and attenuated the irradiation-induced ROS generation. Furthermore, several anti-apoptotic characteristics of FA were determined, including the ability to diminish cytosolic Ca2+ concentration, inhibit caspase-3 activation and cytochrome c translocation, upregulate B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) and downregulate Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) in 3 Gy-irradiated lymphocytes. Signal pathway analysis showed FA decreased the activation of extracellular regulated kinase (ERK), which had been activated by radiation.
Conclusion: The results suggest that FA had a radioprotective effect through the ERK pathway to inhibit apoptosis and oxidation, and it may be an effective candidate for treating radiation diseases associated with oxidative stress.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Nature Sciences Foundation of China (No. 30730112).
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.