Studies on Irradiated Animals, III. Effect of Saline on Radiation-Induced Mortality and Weight Changes.

Abstract

Daily injns. of 0.3 cc.of 0.9% NaCl soln. into mice of 22 g. + 15% body wt. subsequent to the exposure to X-ray doses representing the LD 60/14 days and LD 30/14 days, for periods of 14 and 6 days, respectively, caused a delay in the development of the mortality produced by these X-ray doses. While the 14-day admn. of saline produced a slight but statistically insignificant increase of the X-ray-induced mortality rate, the 6-day admn. resulted in a statistically significant decrease of the mortality rate in mice exposed to the LD 60/14 days. No significant changes of mortality occurred at the LD 30 level. The saline-induced change of X-ray mortality was also reflected in the wt. curve of the animals exposed to the LD 60. The results obtained indicate that saline may change radiation-induced mortality in certain instances and cannot be considered as an entirely inert agent in pharmacological studies on irradiated animals.