Abstract

Objective: Green tea, is particularly rich in flavonoids, which are strong antioxidants. Also, garlic possesses both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory action in several oxidative stress conditions. Our aim was to evaluate the effects of aging as biological vital process on the eryptosis and erythrocytes alterations in albino rats and the ability of the green tea and garlic extract to alleviate those effects.

Materials & methods: Four groups of both male and female rats [young (3 months-old), aged (26 months-old), aged+green tea (200 mg/kg) and aged+garlic (100 mg/kg)] were used. Blood smears prepared and stained by haematoxlyin and eosin for alteration in RBCs detection and acridine orange for eryptosis detection.

Results: Blood smears showed that aging in males and females resulted in the appearance of pathologic types of RBCs as Tear drop like cells (Tr), Sickle cells (Sk), Amoeboid RBCs (Am), Target cells (Tg), Crenated cells (Cr), and Rouleaux appearance. Treatment with green tea decreased these alterations significantly in females while garlic decreased it significantly in both male and female groups. Moreover, eryptosis analyzed by Acridine orange stain showed increased number of eryptosis in RBCs in aging but decreased significantly by the treatment with both green tea and garlic in both genders.

Conclusion: Administration of the green tea extract and garlic orally was able to reinstate the erythrocytes alterations and eryptotic level as biomarkers for the aging process evaluation and treatment.

Keywords: Rats; eryptosis, target cells, green tea, garlic