ON CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROTECTION AGAINST RADIATION INJURY. III. EFFECTS OF ADMINISTRATION OF OROTIC ACID ON ACUTE AND CHRONIC RADIATION SICKNESS (in Italian)
The possible protective effect of orotic acid was tested in rabbits subjected to lethal (2000-r) whole-body x irradiation and to chronlc doses of 100 r/day. In the acute experiments the potassium salt or orotic acid was given in daily doses of 100 mg/kg/day for 10 days preceding irradiation and in chronlc experiments the same doses were given daily with radiation until death. The acutely irradiated controls all died between the 3rd and 6th hr, with a median survival time of 4.3 hr. Orotic acid treatment prolonged survival to the 4th to 198th hr (median 119 hr). After daily 100-r doses, all the controls were dead by the 24th day (median 20 days), whereas the treated rabbits survived as long as 41 days (median 38). Additional experiments showed orotic acid to be moderately protective when given in a single dose 30 min after a lethal radiation dose but only slightly effective when administered 1, 2, or 3 hr postirradiation (none of the animals survived beyond 24 hr after 2000 r). In view of the depolymerizing action of ionizing radiation on nucleic acids, it is postulated that this compound, acting as a precursor of pyrimidine bases, facilitates the resynthesis of nucleic acids damaged by radiation. (BBB)
- Research Organization:
- Universita, Bari, Italy
- NSA Number:
- NSA-17-038898
- OSTI ID:
- 4657482
- Journal Information:
- Rivista di Biologia (Italy), Journal Name: Rivista di Biologia (Italy) Vol. Vol: 55; ISSN RBILA
- Country of Publication:
- Country unknown/Code not available
- Language:
- Italian
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