Objective To investigate the protective effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG) and amifostine(WR-2721) on mouse ovaries against ionizing radiation. Methods One hundred and fifty female ICR mice were randomly divided intosham group, control group, WR group,EGCG group, and WR + EGCG group. Each group consisted of thirty animals.Except for sham group, the mice in the other groups were irradiated by X-rays with a dose of 6 Gy. At 8 hours, 7 days and 14 days after treatment respectively, the body weight, blood cell count, ovarian index and apoptosis of mice in each group were measured, and the changes of ovarian morphology were observed. Results After radiation, the body weight of mice in control group decreased, while that in sham group continued to increase and in WR, EGCG and WR + EGCG groups increased slowly,and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).The levels of white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets in control group were lower than those in the other groups (P<0.05), but the hemoglobin level of the mice in control group did not change significantly (P>0.05).The number of follicles in control group decreased significantly, and a large number of atresia follicles or empty follicles appeared. There were a small number of atresia or empty follicles in WR and EGCG groups, but no atresia or empty follicles were found in WR + EGCG group. The ovarian index of control group was significantly lower than that of control group, and the ovarian index of EGCG group and WR + EGCG group was higher than that of control group (P<0.05).There were moreatretic follicles and apoptotic granulosa cells stained positive for TUNEL labelling in control group.Compared with sham group, the apoptosis index of ovarian granulosa cells in radiation group was higher than that in control group, and the apoptosis index of EGCG group and WR group was higher than that of control group and WR + EGCG group (P<0.05). Conclusion EGCG combined with WR-2721 enhances the protection of ovaries against ionizing radiation in mice. |