Mechanism of Protective Action of Glutathione Against Whole Body Irradiation.

Abstract

Mice exposed to 820 r whole body X-radiation were compared after subcut. injn. of 4.0 mg. of glutathione per g. of body wt. with saline injd. mice exposed to the same dose of radiation. The fall in blood counts, organ weights, and the histologic evidence of radiation damage were similar in both groups during the first 3 to 5 days after irradiation. Subsequently, regeneration of myelopoiesis in the bone marrow and splenic pulp was markedly accelerated in the treated animals and the splenic and thymic weights also increased more rapidly in treated as compared with untreated animals. The authors advance the hypothesis that pre-irradiation admn. of glutathione protects a mechanism necessary for regeneration of hemopoiesis but does not prevent the cellular destruction.