Mi Hee Choi

Protective Effect of Hesperidin, a Citrus Flavanoglycone, Against γ-Radiation-Induced Tissue Damage in Sprague–Dawley Rats

The present study was designed to evaluate the radioprotective effect of hesperidin, a citrus flavanoglycone, against γ-radiation-induced cellular damage in the liver, heart, and kidney of rats. Whole-body γ-radiation exposure (5 Gy) of healthy adult rats resulted in cellular damage and oxidative stress manifested as increased levels of serum marker enzymes, lipid peroxidation, and fibrosis in the tissues, accompanied by depletion of cellular glutathione and abnormal alteration in the levels of lysosomal enzymes. Treatment with hesperidin (50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) for 7 days was found to offer significant protection against γ-radiation-induced toxicity in the tissues, which was evident by the improved status of most of the parameters investigated. Further, the histological examination of periodic acid-Schiff-stained tissue sections of animals treated with hesperidin following radiation exposure showed minimal necrotic damage with a recovery pattern in a dose-dependent manner compared with radiation-exposed animals. The results of our study show that administration of hesperidin offers effective protection against γ-radiation-induced cellular damage and oxidative stress in rats.

Efficient and selective removal of radioactive iodine anions using engineered nanocomposite membranes

The efficient treatment of radioactive waste arising from nuclear accidents and overuse of radioisotopes has become an important issue, and much effort has been devoted to protecting the environment from such toxic radioactive materials. Among them, radioactive iodine in water is regarded as one of the most palpable threats to humans, as it is generated by post-use in medical and industrial applications. Although a few adsorbents and purification processes have been reported, the development of a better desalination method that is able to provide high removal efficiency, ion-selectivity, and reusability is still in demand. Herein, we report a hybrid composite membrane, composed of gold nanoparticles and cellulose acetate membranes, which has the potential to be used for efficient desalination of radioactive iodine. A single filtration process using this membrane provided high removal efficiency with more than two orders of magnitude iodide anion removal within a minute and excellent ion-selectivity. Moreover, the same operation can be applied several times without significant decrease of its performance. Therefore, it is anticipated that our work will be a new avenue for desalination of radioactive iodine in various aqueous media.