RT Journal T1 ROSMARINIC ACID MITIGATES RADIATION-INDUCED THYMIC AND SPLENIC INJURY THROUGH ANTIOXIDANT ENHANCEMENT AND MODULATION OF THYMIC mRNA EXPRESSION IN MICE A1 Amna Rashid A1 Rameen Matloob A1 Khalid Rauf A1 Muhammad Hassham Hassan Bin Asad A1 Zia Uddin A1 Nabi Shah A1 Ikram Ullah Khan A1 Muhammad Ikram JF Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JO JAPS SN 1018-7081 VO 37 IS 1 YR 2027 FD 2027 DO DOI https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2027.1.0013 AB

Ionizing radiation causes significant harm to lymphoid organs through oxidative stress, cellular depletion, and disruption of tissue architecture. The study aimed to establish a sublethal 137Cs γ-radiation-induced model of thymic and splenic injury and to evaluate the mitigating effects of rosmarinic Acid (RA). Total 144 BALB/c mice, 6-8 weeks age and 18-22 g weight, were randomly allocated into six groups: normal control, irradiated control, RA50, RA100, RA150, and levamisole. Mice were exposed to 137Cs γ-radiation to induce thymic and splenic injury and were subsequently treated with RA at doses of 50, 100, 150 mg/kg for 14 days. The mitigating effects of RA were assessed using hematological parameters, thymic and splenic indices, organ cellularity, histological architecture, oxidative-stress and antioxidant markers, and the thymic expression of FoxN1, IL-6, IL-7, and IL-15. At 150 mg/kg dose, thymus and spleen index increased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) from irradiated group. Histological examination showed reduced radiation-associated hypocellularity and architectural disruption in the thymus and spleen, improvement observed at 150 mg/kg. RA significantly reduced malondialdehyde levels in the thymus and spleen (p ≤ 0.001) than irradiated group following treatment with 150mg/kg and significantly improved SOD (p ≤ 0.001), GPx (p ≤ 0.001), CAT (p ≤ 0.01) activity. Furthermore, RA significantly modulated the radiation-altered expression of IL-7 (p ≤ 0.001), IL-6, IL-15, and FoxN1 (p ≤ 0.01) mRNA in the thymus, at 150 mg/kg. Overall, RA, mitigated sublethal radiation-associated thymic and splenic injury, as demonstrated by improvements in hematological and organ indices, oxidative-stress and antioxidant markers, lymphoid tissue architecture, and thymic mRNA expression. These findings suggest that RA may have potential as a natural immunomodulatory agent against radiation-associated lymphoid injury.

K1 Thymus, Radiation, Rosmarinic acid, Cytokines, Antioxidant PB Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum LK https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=2026-JAPS-648