Physiology Research Center, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran; Department of Medical Physics and Radiology, Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Medical Laboratory Science Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Appl Radiat Isot. 2022 Sep;187:110348. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2022.110348. Epub 2022 Jun 26.
This study aimed to determine the radioprotective effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the radiation-induced oxidative stress (OS) in the rats' brainstem.
Eighty rats in four identical groups, including vehicle control (VC), irradiation alone (RAD), irradiation with 1 g/kg of NAC treatment (RAN), and NAC treatment without radiation (NAC) were used. Whole-brain irradiation was performed with a single dose of 25 Gy. The rats received the treatments via intraperitoneal (IP) injection 1 h before the irradiation process. Nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were measured in the rats' brainstem and compared between the groups. Furthermore, the pathological study was performed to assess tissue damage after 24 h, 72 h, and 5 days of irradiation.
The levels of NO and MDA in the brainstem tissue for the RAD group were 60.37 ± 3.35 μmol/L and 45.10 ± 2.48 μM, respectively, which were higher than those of VC group (NO: 30.41 ± 1.83 μmol/L; MDA: 31.02 ± 1.71 μM). The level of SOD, CAT, TAC, and GPx declined in the RAD compared to the VC group. Pre-treatment with NAC decreased the level of NO and MDA and also enhanced the antioxidant activities. The greatest pathological changes in the rats' brainstems were seen in RAD animals compared to the VC group at 24 h, 72 h, and 5 days. Furthermore, the pathological changes were not observed in the NAC group in all the assessed times.
Based on the results, NAC can decrease the irradiation-induced oxidative stress and pathology damages in the rats' brainstem. It can be concluded that NAC can be an appropriate radioprotection candidate for the human brainstem.
本研究旨在确定 N-乙酰半胱氨酸 (NAC) 对大鼠脑干辐射诱导的氧化应激 (OS) 的放射防护作用。
将 80 只大鼠分为四组，包括对照组（VC）、单纯照射组（RAD）、照射加 1g/kg NAC 处理组（RAN）和未照射加 NAC 处理组（NAC）。采用单次 25Gy 全脑照射。大鼠在照射前 1 小时通过腹腔（IP）注射进行治疗。测量大鼠脑干中的一氧化氮（NO）、丙二醛（MDA）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）、总抗氧化能力（TAC）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx），并比较各组之间的差异。此外，还进行了病理研究，以评估照射后 24 小时、72 小时和 5 天的组织损伤。
RAD 组大鼠脑干组织中 NO 和 MDA 的水平分别为 60.37±3.35μmol/L 和 45.10±2.48μM，高于 VC 组（NO：30.41±1.83μmol/L；MDA：31.02±1.71μM）。与 VC 组相比，RAD 组 SOD、CAT、TAC 和 GPx 的水平下降。NAC 预处理降低了 NO 和 MDA 的水平，同时增强了抗氧化活性。与 VC 组相比，RAD 组大鼠脑干在 24 小时、72 小时和 5 天时的病理变化最大。此外，在所有评估时间点，NAC 组均未观察到病理变化。
根据结果，NAC 可降低大鼠脑干照射诱导的氧化应激和病理损伤。可以得出结论，NAC 可能是人类脑干的一种合适的放射防护候选物。
