Selig C, Nothdurft W, Fliedner T M
Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine, University of Ulm, Federal Republic of Germany.
J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 1993;119(6):346-9. doi: 10.1007/BF01208843.
N-Acetylcysteine, known as a radical scavenger, was examined for its influence on the radiotolerance of progenitor cells of granulocytopoiesis. Added before and after irradiation in a dose of 2 mg/ml to suspension cultures of non-adherent low-density human bone marrow cells N-acetylcysteine (AcCys) clearly improved the survival. The D0 value of the survival curve for granulocyte/macrophage colony-forming cells increased by a factor of 1.56 as compared to non-treated control suspensions. The improvement of radiation tolerance is probably not only based on the radical scavenger properties (radioprotective component) of AcCys, but also on the support of repair processes.