Objective To investigate the protective effects of Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides on the oxidative damage induced by passive smoking in rats.
Methods Fifty-six healthy adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into seven groups: normal control, positive control(passive smoking and vitamin E by gavage), model(passive smoking and normal saline), high/low dose gavage(passive smoking and Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides at high/low dose by gavage), and high/low dose aerosol inhalation(passive smoking and Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides at high/low dose by aerosol inhalation) groups. All rats assigned passive smoking were placed in an exposure cabinet to receive passive smoking by a 12-cigarette-pack for 30 min, 1 time a day. Next, the high/low dose gavage groups were administered with Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides by gavage 1 time a day; and the high/low dose aerosol inhalation groups were administered with Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides by aerosol inhalation 3 times a day; total daily accumulated doses were 1 200 mg& #183;kg-1 and 600 mg& #183;kg-1, respectively. The positive control group received vitamin E at 20 mg& #183;kg-1 by gavage 1 time a day. The normal control group received the same dose of normal saline every day. The exposure lasted 35 d. Superoxide dismutase(SOD), glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px), malondialdehyde(MDA), and reactive oxygen species(ROS) in serum and lung tissue homogenate were measured.
Results The lung weight and lung coefficient of rats in the high dose aerosol inhalation group were different from those of the model group(P<0.05) and close to those of the normal control group, and the other groups were lower than the normal control group for the two indicators(P<0.05). Compared with the normal control group, the SOD and GSH-Px activities in serum and lung tissue of the model group decreased(P<0.05), while the ROS and MDA contents increased(P<0.05). The SOD and GSH-Px activities in the serum of the high dose gavage group and the positive control group werehigher than those in the model group(P<0.05). The SOD levels in the lung tissue homogenate of the high dose gavage group and the aerosol inhalation group were higher than that in the model group(P<0.05) and was close to that of the normal control group. The high dose gavage group, positive control group, high/low dose aerosol inhalation had lower contents of lung tissue homogenate MDA and ROS than the model group(P<0.05), and close to the normal value, and the low dose aerosol inhalation group had significantly lower contents of MDA than the low dose gavage group.
Conclusion Rhodiola rosea polysaccharides might have specific protective effects on lung antioxidization, probably by increasing serum SOD and GSH-Px levels while decreasing serum ROS and MDA contents to antagonize the negative effects of passive smoking. The findings also indicate that aerosol inhalation is a better way than gavage in reducing lung tissue ROS and MDA contents.
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