Antioxidant Properties of Trianthema Portulacastrum and Protection Against Ionizing Radiation-Induced Liver Damage Ex vivo

Antioxidants in fruits and vegetables protect cells against radiation induced damage. Trianthema portulacastrum is used as vegetables from ancient time. The effects of T. Portulacastrum ethanolic extracts against gamma-radiation induced liver tissue damage ex vivo were evaluated in this study. Antioxidant phytochemicals present in T. Portulacastrum includes flavonoids [3.3 +/- 0.15 to 10 +/- 0.16 mg catethin equivalent (CE)/g fresh weight (fw)], ascorbic acid (0.15 +/- 0.03 to 0.21 +/- 0.03 mg/g fw), glutathione s-transferase (GST) (1.57 +/- 0.06 to 3.59 +/- 0.05 nmole/mg fw/min), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (1.6 +/- 0.03 to 1.79 +/- 0.04 U/min), peroxidase (3.26 +/- 0.18 to 6.38 +/- 0.03 U/g fw) and catalase (0.51 +/- 0.03 to 2.84 +/- 0.15 mg H2O2 decomposed/g fw/min). Total phenolic content varied from 122.9 +/- 8.7 to 302.8 +/- 15.7 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract, and flavonoid content varied from 316.7 +/- 33.3 to 800.7 +/- 28.9 CE mg/g extract. The IC50 value of Nitric oxide (NO center dot) scavenging activity of extracts varies from 208.7 to 387.4 mu g/ ml. Pre-treatment with the T. portulacastrum extracts mitigated the 4-Gy gamma(gamma) radiation-induced oxidative stress related parameters in hepatic tissue such as TBARS, catalase, nitrite, Glutathione reductase (GR), SOD and GST in dose dependent manner. The ethanolic extract of the stem from T. Portulacastrum demonstrated highest protection in comparison to leaf and whole plant extracts. This study demonstrated the hepatoprotective efficacy of T. portulacastrum extracts against gamma-radiation in ex-vivo condition was possibly due to its potential antioxidant properties of phenolic and flavonoids present in extracts.