Objective To study the protective effect of puerarin on the intestinal mucosal damage of SD rats induced by radiation and its molecular mechanism.
Method The SD rats were randomly divided into a control group, a simple radiation group and a radiation + puerarin group, with 8 rats in each group. The rats in the radiation-only group and the radiation+puerarin group received a single dose of 12 Gy. The rats in the radiation+puerarin group were injected with 15 mg/(kg·d) puerarin through the tail vein for 7 consecutive days. The jejunum tissue was collected, and the pathological changes of the intestine were observed by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining; the antigen Ki-67 (Ki-67 antigen, Ki-67) in the jejunum tissue was detected by immunohistochemical staining. ) And platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1, PECAM1) expression and distribution; Western blotting was used to detect Claudin-1 (Claudin-1) and zonular occlusion protein-1 ( The expression of zonula occludens protein 1,ZO-1); the level of malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in jejunum tissue were detected by the kit method.
Results The pathological test results showed that puerarin can increase the length of villi of the jejunum tissue under radiation conditions, maintain the structure of villi epithelium, reduce the loss of villi epithelial cells, reduce the loss of crypts and promote the regeneration of crypt cells, and reduce the cupping in the crypts. The density of the cells. Puerarin can significantly restore the expression of Claudin-1 and ZO-1 proteins in the jejunum tissue induced by radiation and reduce oxidative stress damage.
Conclusion Puerarin can protect rats from radiation-induced intestinal damage by promoting tight junction protein expression, reducing oxidative stress damage, promoting crypt cell regeneration and maintaining the structural integrity of intestinal villi epithelium.