POSTIRRADIATION TREATMENT OF 

 MICE AND RATS 



D. W. H. Barnes and J. F. Loutit 



Medical Research Council Radiobiological Research Unit, Hanvell 



From time to time there appear reports that specific treat- 

 ments given to mice after an acute lethal dose of radiation 

 have a significant effect in improving the proportion of 

 survivors at the conventional time of 30 days. Amongst the 

 chemical agents alleged to have this therapeutic activity 

 have been batyl alcohol (DL-a-octadecylglycerol-ether) (Ed- 

 lund, 1954); properdin (a natural euglobulin present in normal 

 serum) (Pillemer et al., 1954) polyvinylpyrrolidone (BUrger 

 et al., 1954) and carbon monoxide (Konecci et al., 1955). Up 

 to date none of these reports has been followed by confirma- 

 tory papers. In the case of polyvinylpyrrolidone the beneficial 

 effect has been denied (Becker and Kirchberg, 1955; Biirger, 

 1955; Rugh et al, 1953). 



On the other hand, procedures which might be called 

 surgical are undoubtedly effective. For instance Brecher and 

 Cronkite (1951) showed that lethally irradiated rats could 

 recover if, after their irradiation, they were subjected to the 

 operation of parabiosis with an unirradiated rat. Following 

 this operation a cross-circulation between the two animals is 

 established. The survival of the damaged animal may be due 

 to the transfer of anything in the blood of the normal animal. 

 It could be due to the continuous transfusion of the formed 

 elements of blood — red corpuscles, leucocytes and platelets — 

 all of which are grossly deficient in the circulation of the rat 

 some days after a lethal dose of radiation. However, blood 

 transfusion as can be practised clinically has been without 

 effect except for the limited successes claimed on small series 

 by Salisbury and co-workers (1951) and Allen and co-workers 

 (1951). For such trials the rat is not suitable as the experi- 



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