Acidic polysaccharide of Panax ginseng as a defense against small intestinal damage by whole-body gamma irradiation of mice

An acidic polysaccharide of Panax ginseng (APG), ginsan, has been reported to protect the hematopoietic system by increasing the number of bone marrow cells and spleen cells. Therefore, we evaluated the ability of APG to protect mice from radiation-induced damage of the small intestine. APG treatment caused the lengthening of villi and a numerical increase of crypt cells in the small intestine at 3.5 days after 7 Gy irradiation compared to irradiated, non-treated controls. In addition, APG significantly inhibited irradiation-induced apoptosis by decreasing the amount of pro-apoptotic p53 and Bax as well as augmenting that of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 at 24 h after irradiation. These results indicate that APG might be a useful adjunct to therapeutic irradiation as a protective agent for the gastrointestinal tract of cancer patients.