radioprotective role of punica granatum fruit rind extract: a biochemical study on mouse testis

background: to evaluate the radioprotective potential of punica granatum fruit rind extract (pgre) in mouse testes. materials and methods: adult male mice were divided into four groups. group i was kept without any treatment. group ii was irradiated with 8gy co60 gamma irradiation and group iii was given pgre one hour before irradiation. group iv was fed with pgre at the rate of 10 mg/kg body weight. mice were sacrificed at various post irradiation intervals and testes were removed, weighed and analysed biochemically for reduced glutathione content, lipid peroxidation, total protein, dna and rna content. results were subjected to students ‘t’ test. results: testes weight of both the ii group and iii group decreased till 3rd post irradiation day. protein and rna contents increased up till the 3rd post irradiation day and decreased till 28th day in group ii. group iv maintains a higher level of protein and rna content in comparison to ii group. gsh and dna content decreased in ii group in comparison to normal and in iii group they are found to be significantly higher at all the post irradiation intervals. conclusion: punica granatum fruit rind extract pretreatment renders protection against biochemical changes in mouse testes.