https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-026-07311-6
Regular Article
Investigation the radioprotective and radiotreatment effects of bee pollen nanoparticles in vivo: a comet assay approach
1
Department of Physics, College of Science, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq
2
Department of Physics, College of Science, Baghdad University, Baghdad, Iraq
a
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received:
25
July
2025
Accepted:
13
January
2026
Published online:
1
February
2026
Abstract
Present study investigates the potential radioprotective and radiotreatment effects of bee pollen nanoparticles in vivo, utilizing the comet assay to assess DNA damage in a leukocyte of rat’s blood. Gamma rays poses significant risks to biological tissues, leading to DNA damage and increased cell damage, mutation and cancer risk. Bee pollen nanoparticles (Bee Pollen NPs), known for their antioxidant properties, the novelty synthesized lead to distinctive characteristics described by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Dynamic light scattering (DLS), Zeta Potential and Transmission electron microscope (TEM), whereas average crystallite size is (23.8 nm), average size of Bee Pollen NPs is (81 nm), Zeta potential is (− 52.8 mV) and maximum particles diameter is (25.01 nm). Functional group and vibration modes demonstrated by Infrared Fourier transform (FTIR). Rats were divided into six groups, control negative control positive irradiated with (5, 10, 15 Gy), radioprotective group with the latter receiving Bee Pollen NPs prior to exposure to gamma radiation(15 Gy) and radiotreatment group with receiving Bee Pollen NPs after exposure to gamma radiation(15 Gy). The comet assay was employed to quantify DNA damage by measuring Head DNA, tail DNA percentage, comet length and tail moment. Results indicated Bee Pollen NPs exhibit both radio protective and radio treatment properties, radio protective process is slightly more effective in preventing DNA damage than radiotreatment is in repairing it. These findings highlight the promise of Bee Pollen NPs in mitigating radiation-induced damage and warrant further exploration for clinical applications in radioprotection and therapy.
Copyright comment Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
