Flavonoids are ubiquitous in nature and they are abundant in food.
Cataract is opacity in the normally transparent crystalline lens of the eye leading to reduced vision, which can eventually result in blindness. In fact, it is the main cause of preventable blindness in the world.
Oxidative stress is a common factor in cataract formation (and it can result from excess exposure to sunlight).
Given the antioxidant properties of hesperidin, a flavanone glycoside from the flavonoid family, with beneficial radiation-protective effects, this study aimed to determine the protective effect of hesperidin on reducing oxidative stress in the eye lens tissue of mature rats caused by gamma irradiation.
In other studies hesperin has shown properties of reducing radiation-induced hepatic injury and damage to peripheral blood lymphocytes caused by gamma radiation.
Conclusions:
Radiation exposure reduced the beneficial antioxidant glutathione peroxidase (GSH) and enhanced malondialdehyde (MDA, a marker of inflammation) levels in the lens tissue.
However, GSH was increased and MDA levels were reduced after hesperidin consumption. These results show the antioxidative properties of hesperidin in the lens and demonstrated that radiation complications such as cataract can be reduced by hesperidin through reducing oxidative stress.
- Radioprotective effect of hesperidin on reducing oxidative stress in the lens tissue of rats - PubMed
- Int J Pharm Investig
- 2017 Jul-Sep;7(3):149-154.
- PMID: 29184828 = PMCID: PMC5680651
- DOI: 10.4103/jphi.JPHI_60_17
- free full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5680651/