Early treatment of radiation-induced heart damage in rats by caffeic acid phenethyl ester

The study is designed to determine the therapeutic effect of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) in minimizing radiation-induced injuries in rats. Rats were exposed to 7 Gy gamma radiation, 30 min later rats were injected with CAPE (10 μmol/kg body, i.p.) for 7 consecutive days. Rats were sacrificed at 8 and 15 days after starting the experiment. Gamma-irradiation induced significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) level and xanthine oxidase (XO) and adenosine deaminase (ADA) activities, and significant decrease in total nitrate/nitrite (NO(x)) level and glutathione peroxidise (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activities in heart tissue and augmented lipid fractions levels and activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and aspartate transaminase (AST) in serum. Irradiated rats early treated with CAPE showed significant decrease in MDA, XO and ADA and significant increase in NO(x) and SOD in heart tissue and in serum enzymes compared with irradiated group. Serum lipid profiles and cardiac enzymes were restored. Conclusion: CAPE could exhibits curable effects on gamma irradiation-induced cardiac-oxidative impairment in rats.