ITEMS

modern scholarly publishers in the finest tradition

Journals

	Search

Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology

ISSN for PRINT: 0731-8898

Institutional price:	$672.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2004, Volume23

90 pages

DOI: 10.1615/JEnvPathToxOncol.v23.i2

Issue price - $160.00

Relevance of Radioprotectors in Radiotherapy: Studies with Tocopherol Monoglucoside

Cherupally Krishnan K. Nair
Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, India

Veena Salvi
Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, India

Tsutomu V. Kagiya
Health Research Foundation, Kinki Invention Center, Kyoto, Japan

Rema Rajagopalan
Radiation Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, India

ABSTRACT

Radioprotective compounds are of importance in clinical radiation therapy, because normal tissues should be protected against radiation injury while using higher doses of radiation to obtain better cancer control. We investigated the radioprotection of cellular DNA in cancer and in various cells and tissues, in a murine system following exposure to γ-radiation and tocopherol monoglucoside (TMG) administration. We used single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) and studied the progression of murine fibrosarcoma following radiation exposure and administration of TMG. The administration of TMG to tumor-bearing mice protected the cellular DNA against radiation-induced strand breaks as shown by the decrease in comet tail length, tail moment, and percentage of DNA in the tails of the cells of normal tissues. The same parameters were not altered in the cells of fibrosarcoma. Our results showed that the administration of TMG immediately after exposure to γ-radiation can protect normal tissues against radiation damages in tumor-bearing mice. Local γ-radiation exposure (5 Gy) of the tumor retarded the tumor growth. Administration of TMG did not protect cancer cells from radiation damage because the growth curves of cancer cells treated with radiation alone and those treated with TMG after irradiation were not significantly different.