title: [Erythropoietin as a protective factor in rat CNS cells receiving radiotherapy -an in vitro study].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of erythropoietin in cultured rat cerebral cortex cells receiving radiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cerebral cortex was taken from 17-day-old Wistar rat embryos and placed in culture. At 72 hours, the cultures were divided into two groups, one receiving 30 pM erythropoietin alpha and the other was the control group. Both groups received 6 Gy from a Phoenix apparatus and were incubated for another 24 hours before fixation in 4% formaldehyde. TUNEL technique was employed to calculate the number of apoptotic cells in the irradiated cultures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Apoptosis affected 25.22% of the cells cultured without erythropoietin and 15.5% in the group receiving erithropoyetin. Student's t-test was used to analyse quantitative variables and showed a significant difference in apoptosis between the two groups (p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our in vitro experimental model demonstrated that erythropoietin effectively prevents apoptosis in irradiated rat SNC cells, opening new fields for investigation into protective agents for the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Materno Infantil La Paz, Madrid, Espana.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Gomez-De la Riva
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isla-Guerrero
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: García-Grande
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D002452:Cell Count; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D016371:Cranial Irradiation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000068817:Epoetin Alfa; D004921:Erythropoietin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D011837:Radiation-Protective Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004921:Erythropoietin; D000068817:Epoetin Alfa