Elevation of extracellular adenosine induces radioprotective effects in mice.

The radioprotective effectiveness of the elevation of extracellular adenosine induced in mice by the combined administration of dipyridamole, a drug inhibiting the cellular uptake of adenosine, and adenosine monophosphate, a soluble adenosine pro-drug, was evaluated. Based on survival studies, endogenous hemopoietic spleen colony formation, and the postirradiation behavior of bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming cells (GM-CFC), it was demonstrated that the combined administration of dipyridamole and AMP protects mice when given either 15 or 60 min before irradiation. It could be deduced that the radioprotective action is induced by at least two independent mechanisms: (1) protection by hypoxia as a result of the effect of the treatment on the cardiovascular system, and (2) and enhanced regeneration of the hemopoietic stem cells due to either enhanced postirradiation repair or an increased proliferation of the hemopoietic stem cells. Both of these protective mechanisms, which are able to increase the regeneration of hemopoiesis, seemed to be effective in enhancing the survival of mice given single radiation exposures, with a dose reduction factor for the LD50/30 of 1.11. The protective efficiency of the mechanisms enhancing the postirradiation recovery of hemopoiesis was also evident in experiments evaluating the survival of mice subjected to fractionated irradiation and a repeated administration of the protective agents.