Protection against alloxan diabetes by low-dose 60Co gamma irradiation before alloxan administration.

We evaluated the protective effects of a single low-dose whole body 60Co gamma irradiation against alloxan-induced hyperglycemia in rats. i) In rats that did not receive alloxan, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in the pancreas significantly increased after irradiation at a dose of 0.5 or 1.0 Gy. ii) In rats that received alloxan, plasma lipid peroxide levels, pancreatic lipid peroxide levels and blood glucose were increased. However, the increase in pancreatic lipid peroxide level was prevented by irradiation at a dose of 0.5 or 1.0 Gy; and the increase in blood glucose, by irradiation at 0.5 Gy. iii) After alloxan administration, degranulation was observed in beta cells, but this was prevented by low-dose irradiation at 0.5 Gy.