title: Interleukin 4 promotes survival of lethally irradiated mice in the absence of hematopoietic efficacy.
abstract: The therapeutic potential of Il4 in lethally irradiated mice was evaluated in C57BL6/J mice subjected to 7 to 10 Gy total-body irradiation (TBI) from a (60)Co gamma-ray source. Il4 was administered 2 h after TBI either in a single injection or for 5 consecutive days. Il4 treatment increased 30-day survival of mice irradiated with doses as high as 8.5 Gy, which caused 100% mortality in placebo-treated animals. By convention, hematopoietic failure would induce death over a period of up to 30 days. However, in our study, the Il4-enhanced survival of mice within this period could not be attributed to significantly accelerated hematopoietic reconstitution as shown by blood cell counts and progenitor cell contents in the bone marrow and spleen. Our data strongly suggest that aplasia is not the only cause of death of animals irradiated with doses around the LD(50) and that Il4-treated animals can survive in spite of a very poor hematopoietic activity.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Protection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Département de Protection de la santé de l'Homme et de Dosimétrie, Section Autonome de Radiobiologie Appliquée à la Médecine, IPSN, B.P. no. 6, F-92265 Fontenay-aux-Roses, Cédex, France.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van der Meeren
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Gaugler
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mouthon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Squiban
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gourmelon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000528:radiation effects; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000528:radiation effects*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013154:Spleen / Q000528:radiation effects; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors; D014916:Whole-Body Irradiation
chemical_list: D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D015847:Interleukin-4