Figure 7.

Inhibitory effect of melatonin pre-treatment on apoptosis or TUNEL positivity index of splenocytes of Funambulus pennanti following exposure to 5 Gy γ-radiation. Animals were sacrificed after 4, 24, 48, 72 and 168 h during (a) the reproductively active phase (RAP) and (b) the reproductively inactive phase (RIP). (c) A comparison of the TUNEL positivity index between RAP and RIP irradiated (I) and RAP and RIP melatonin-treated plus irradiated (MI) groups, in which controls of both phases were assumed to be 100%. Vertical bars represent mean±SEM (standard error of the mean), n _ 5 for each group. The statistical significance is indicated: b _ p<0.01 when compared with the control group; d _ p<0.01 when compared with the irradiated group. Con, control; Mel, melatonin only; Irrd, irradiation only; Mel+Irrd, melatonin treatment and irradiation.