After one week of adaptation, animals were divided among
4 groups, with 6 rats in each. The first group was not irradiated
and was used as a control group. Each animal in the second
group received, by gavage, a daily dose of 200 mg of
aqueous curcumin extract per kilogram body mass in 0.6 mL
water, for 28 successive days. The physiological dose of
200 mg/kg aqueous extract used in this study, is even lower
than the doses previously reported (Hussain 2002; Ashok and
Meenakshi 2004). The third group of animals was exposed to
a single dose of whole body g-irradiation (6.5 Gy). The
fourth group received the aqueous extract (200 mg/kg body
mass) daily for 21 successive days, then was exposed to a
single dose of g-irradiation 6.5 Gy, followed by daily administration
of the extract for an extra 7 days. At the end of experiment,
the rats were sacrificed, and serum and liver tissue
were collected for biochemical analyses