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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF IRRADIATION UPON THE WHOLESOMENESS OF FOOD. PROGRESS Report No. 10 for Period March 1960-September 1960

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:4059758

A report on the wholesomeness of one of the two foods investigated as part of a contract to determine the effect of irradiation upon the wholesomeness of beef is presented. Feeding beef irradiated with 2.79 megarads in a ration which was hemorrhagenic for male rats did not cause death nor prolong prothrombin times in male beagle hounds or in male cats during a 40-week experimental period. The amount of vitamin K required by castrated rats to prevent prolonged prothrombin time and to prevent death due to hemorrhage increased with increased levels of testosterone. The adult male rat is more susceptible to the factors which cause the hemorrhagic disease than is the weanling male rat. The addition of 2% DL methionine to a hemorrhagenic ration completely prevented prolonged prothrombin time and protected agdinst death due to hemorrhage in male weanling and adult rats. The data indicate that the effect of coprophagy is of less importance as a factor in the hemorrhagic syndrome than is the effect of the strain of rat, vitamin K, the level of methionine in the ration, and sex hormones. (auth)

Research Organization:
Illinois. Univ., Coll. of Veterinary Medicine; Illinois. Agricultural Experimental Station, Urbana
NSA Number:
NSA-15-023192
OSTI ID:
4059758
Report Number(s):
NP-9579
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English