title: Reduction in radiation-induced brain injury by use of pentobarbital or lidocaine protection.
abstract: To determine if barbiturates would protect brain at high doses of radiation, survival rates in rats that received whole-brain x-irradiation during pentobarbital- or lidocaine-induced anesthesia were compared with those of control animals that received no medication and of animals anesthetized with ketamine. The animals were shielded so that respiratory and digestive tissues would not be damaged by the radiation. Survival rates in rats that received whole-brain irradiation as a single 7500-rad dose under pentobarbital- or lidocaine-induced anesthesia was increased from between from 0% and 20% to between 45% and 69% over the 40 days of observation compared with the other two groups (p less than 0.007). Ketamine anesthesia provided no protection. There were no notable differential effects upon non-neural tissues, suggesting that pentobarbital afforded protection through modulation of ambient neural activity during radiation exposure. Neural suppression during high-dose cranial irradiation protects brain from acute and early delayed radiation injury. Further development and application of this knowledge may reduce the incidence of radiation toxicity of the central nervous system (CNS) and may permit the safe use of otherwise "unsafe" doses of radiation in patients with CNS neoplasms.
authors.affiliation: Surgical Neurology Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors.forename: E H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Oldfield
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kinsella
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moquin
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orr
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: DeLuca
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D008012:Lidocaine; D010424:Pentobarbital