Document Type

Article

Journal Title

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Publication Date

2025

Volume

26

Abstract

Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) occurs when hematopoietic or gastrointestinal cells are damaged by radiation exposure causing DNA damage to the bone marrow and gastrointestinal epithelial stem cell populations. In these highly proliferative cell types, DNA damage inhibits stem cell repopulation. In humans and animals, this inability to regenerate stem cells is lethal. Within this manuscript, several compounds, Amifostine, Captopril, Ciprofloxacin, PrC-210, 5-AED (5-androstene-3β,17β-diol), and 5-AET (5-androstene-3β,7β,17B-triol), are assessed for their ability to protect against ARS in an in vitro and/or in vivo setting. ARS was accomplished by irradiating mouse bone marrow cells or rat intestinal epithelial (IEC-6) cells in vitro with 4-8 Gy and in vivo by exposing Mus musculus to 7.3 Gy of whole-body irradiation. The primary endpoints of this study include cellular viability, DNA damage via γ-H2AX, colony formation, and overall survival at 30-days post-irradiation. In addition to evaluating the radioprotective performance of each compound, this study establishes a distinct set of in vitro assays to predict the overall efficacy of potential radioprotectors in an in vivo model of ARS. Furthermore, these results highlight the need for FDA-approved medical intervention to protect against ARS.

MeSH Headings

Animals, Acute Radiation Syndrome, Rats, Mice, Radiation-Protective Agents, DNA Damage, Medical Countermeasures, Cell Survival, Bone Marrow Cells, Amifostine, Male, Cell Line, Whole-Body Irradiation

ISSN

1422-0067

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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