The radioprotective effects of a single administration of kojic acid (KA) against ionizing radiation wereevaluated via assessment of 30-day survival and alterations of peripheral blood parameters of adult C57BL/6male mice. The 30-day survival rate of mice pretreated with KA (75 or 300 mg/kg body weight, KA75 or KA300)subcutaneously 27 h prior to a lethal dose (8 Gy, 153.52 cGy/min) of gamma irradiation was higher than that ofmice irradiated alone (40% or 60% vs 0%). It was observed that the white blood cell (WBC) count/the red bloodcell (RBC) count, haemoglobin content, haematocrit and platelet count of mice with or without KA pretreatmentas exposed to a sub-lethal dose (4 Gy, 148.14 cGy/min) of gamma irradiation decreased maximally at day 4/day8 post-irradiation. Although the initial WBC values were low in KA300 or WR-2721 (amifostine) groups, theysignificantly recovered to normal at day 19, whereas in the control group they did not. The results from thecytotoxicity and cell viability assays demonstrated that KA could highly protect Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)cells against ionizing radiation with low toxicity. In summary, KA provides marked radioprotective effects bothin vivo and in vitro.
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