title: Vitamin A inhibits some aspects of systemic disease due to local x-radiation.
abstract: We have previously reported that supplemental vitamin A ameliorates the stress response to a wide variety of noxious agents. The present study was carried out to determine how supplemental vitamin A influences the course of radiation sickness in C3H female mice subjected to 3000 R irradiation of one lower hind limb. All mice ingested a chow diet containing about 13,000 units of vitamin A/kg diet (about half as preformed vitamin A and half as beta-carotene) which supports normal growth, development, and reproduction of normal mice. One hundred fifty thousand units of vitamin A/kg chow was added for the vitamin A supplemented mice. All mice ate and drank ad libitum. The supplemental vitamin A feeding was begun either 3 days before radiation or immediately after radiation. There were no significant differences in the effects of these two regimens. The supplemental vitamin A prevented the weight loss, moderated the adrenal hypertrophy, prevented the thymic involution, and lessened the lymphopenia due to radiation. We conclude that supplemental vitamin A has both prophylactic and therapeutic benefits in radiation-induced disease.
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000528:radiation effects; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000528:radiation effects; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000528:radiation effects; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000473:pathology; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D014801:Vitamin A