Pageau R, Saint-Pierre C
Radiology. 1978 Oct;129(1):205-7. doi: 10.1148/129.1.205.
Rats fed laboratory chow or elemental diet 3 were given fractions of 240 rads of 60Co gamma-radiation abdominally (1200 rads/week) until all animals had died. Changes in appetite, body weight, and mortality were monitored as a function of the cumulative dose received. More radiation was needed in the diet-fed group to achieve both 0 and 100% mortality, a difference of 37% at the mean lethal dose level. Both groups developed similar progressive anorexia but the diet-fed animals lost weight more slowly. Data indicate that basic intestinal radio-resistance is enhanced by feeding the elemental diet.
