Protection effect of sanguinarine on whole-body exposure of X radiation in BALB/c mice

To investigate the effects of sanguinarine (SAN) on acute radiation induced injury in mice, 45 mice were randomly divided into control, 10 Gy and SAN+10 Gy groups. Mice in the 10 Gy and SAN+10 Gy groups were exposed to single X-ray radiation with an accumulated dose of 10 Gy. Mice in the SAN+10 Gy group were administered intraperitoneally with 2.5 mg/kg body weight of SAN before radiation. Five days after radiation exposure, 5 mice from each group were sacrificed and samples of the small intestine, lung, spleen and liver were fixed for histopathological examinations. Compared with the 10 Gy group, radiation sickness was obviously delayed or attenuated in the SAN+10 Gy group. Survival analysis showed a significant difference between 2 radiation groups (P