Characterizing Eckol as a Therapeutic Aid: A Systematic Review

Manandhar, Bandana; Paudel, Pradeep; Seong, Su Hui; Jung, Hyun Ah; Choi, Jae Sue

It was ascertained that eckol at doses of 10 mg/kg body weight given 2 h and 18 h before exposure to 8, 9 or 10 Gy of whole-body irradiation (WBI) could save mice from radiation ( 60 Co gamma-ray)-induced damage. Representing a significantly diminished death rate, 28.6% (4/14) of the irradiated, untreated group survived for 30 days after exposure to 9 Gy of WBI while 86.6% (13/15) of the mice survived for 30 days that received eckol plus irradiation. An endogenous colony-forming unit (CFU) assay revealed 2.3 ± 0.5 and 3.5 ± 0.5 endogenous CFUs from the eckol plus irradiation group and irradiation control group, respectively. The results did not alter for the non-irradiated group when treated with eckol alone. The revival of hematopoietic ability by the splenic progenitor cells due to the eckol was indicated by the 50% increase in the number of CFUs. A decrease in the percentage of tail DNA (14.7 ± 5.6%) after eckol treatment in irradiation-damaged lymphocytes as compared to the content of tail DNA (42.5 ± 8.7%) when exposed only to 7 Gy of WBI was shown by alkaline comet assay. Thymidine incorporation of splenocytes increased by two fold in 9 days in eckol-treated irradiated mice as compared to the untreated one. Furthermore, the number of CD 3+ pan T cells and CD45R/B220+ pan B elevated in the eckol-treated irradiated groups as compared with the irradiated, untreated control groups. The increase in the number of CD3 + T by 44.3% and CD45R/B220 + pan B cell population by 27.6% as compared with the irradiated, untreated controls confirmed the role of eckol in immunoprotection by elevating the revival rates of specific immune cells [62] .