Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the ovarian protective effects of resveratrol in rats exposed to total body irradiation.
Design: Experimental study.
Settings: University hospital.
Participants and interventions: Thirty female rats were randomized into four groups: (1) control group (n = 7); (2) low-dose (10 mg/kg) resveratrol group (n = 8); (3) high-dose (100 mg/kg) resveratrol group (n =7); and (4) sham irradiation group (n = 8). The drugs were administered intraperitoneally as single doses, and the rats were exposed to total body radiation 24 h after the treatment. The animals were sacrificed the following day, and their ovaries were excised for histopathological and biochemical analysis.
Main outcome measures: The ovarian follicle counts were calculated, and irradiation-dependent ovarian damage and tissue levels of antioxidant enzymes were evaluated.
Results: Group 2 and Group 3 showed significantly higher numbers of total follicle counts compared with Group 1 (P < 0.01). The low-dose resveratrol treatment was associated with significantly higher numbers of primary follicles than the high-dose group. The tissue activities of glutathione peroxidase (GsH-Px) and catalase (CAT) were significantly elevated in the resveratrol-treated animals. Evaluation of ovarian histology revealed no remarkable changes in fibrosis and leucocyte infiltration among the resveratrol-treated and control rats; however, vascularity was significantly reduced in the high-dose group (P = 0.014).
Conclusion: Resveratrol attenuated irradiation-dependent ovarian damage, suggesting that this natural antioxidant is effective in reducing the follicle loss induced by ionizing radiation.
Copyright © 2012 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.